A Transformer Discovery
by CatGirlFireflare
Summary: When my sister and I discover something incredible, it changes our entire world. It turns out that Transformers are't as fictioal as we'd been told...   Ok, I know it's not very original. Sorry. But it WILL be good, I promise!
1. Chapter 1

_This is how it happened. How my sister and I discovered something truly incredible, something we'd always hoped for but never expected. But maybe I'm getting ahead of myself…_

_ How about this: I'll start with my name. In this story, you can know me as Seekjei. "Seec-jee." It comes from my Penname, CrazyCatGirl. "See" is how the 1st initial sounds when said aloud. "Ck" is the sound the sound the 2nd initial makes. And "jee" is how the third initial sounds when said aloud. It's a pretty name, I think. Seekjei._

_ My sister, you can call her Freefel. That's from her penname, FireFlare. "Fff" is the sound of the first initial. "Rree" is the last two letters of the first part of her penname. And "fell" is the first two letters of the second part of her penname. So, in this story, call her Freefel. I think it's a pretty name._

_ Not very exciting yet, huh? Don't worry; the story gets better soon! You see, I'm not the kind of person to question her own sanity: I know I'm insane! That's what makes life fun! So anyway, readers, there's only a little bit more boring stuff to go. Then we'll get to the real story! _

_ So, just to let you know, here are the transformer toys we have: Beast wars Cheetor, Airazor, and Silverbolt. Animated Arcee, Snarl, and Grimlock. Movieverse Bumblebee, Arcee, and Elita 1. War For Cybertron Bumblebee. The large versions of G1 Prowl and Sunstreaker, mini G1 Grimlock and Ultra Magnus, and two G1 Ravages. We also have a couple whose universes and names I can't remember. Those are my dad's: A magenta-and-blue-ish helicopter, a tan helicopter who combines with a blue car, and a red scrapticon and a yellow scrapticon._

_ OK! Enough with all of this boring stuff of boring-ness! ON WITH THE CHAPTER! Enjoy!_

A day or two ago, I was organizing our transformers toys in a large cardboard box. I'd been talking to myself about the 'shooting star' that my dad had seen on Tuesday, around 1 or 1:30 in the morning.

He said it'd had pieces breaking off as it soared across the sky, at least a hundred miles away toward the east, and that he'd seen it for 5 whole seconds. He later found reports of it on the news, too. Personally, I felt I knew what it was. My brain was yelling, "IT'S A TRANSFOMER! You watched the movie, you know what it is!" The tiny, annoying, logical bit of me said it wasn't possible. Shut up, logic! You're no fun.

Anywho, just then, Movieverse Arcee fell over from where she was standing near the box. I glanced over, picked her up, and leaned her against the box again. However, one of her legs _somehow_ caught on Movieverse Bee's foot, and he fell over.

As I stood him upright again, I jokingly said, "C'mon, Arcee. There was no need to trip Bumblebee just cause he thought it was funny when you fell over." For a split second, I could've sworn that the two actually twitched, as if they were shocked.

I blinked, then shook my head, thinking, 'I'm crazy, that's all. They can't really move. Toys aren't alive.' But my large amount of insanity and love-of-the-impossible wouldn't stand for that sort of talk. It demanded I check it out. So I carefully rearranged the toys in their box, put it a couple feet from the doorway, and went down the stairs. Then I paused, and silently crouched down on the top stairs. For a second, nothing.

A minute later, I heard something. It came from the box. Then were a few faint tapping sounds. And then, the impossible. From within the box, there was movement.


	2. Chapter 2

_Ok, I know the idea isn't very original. Sorry about that! I just _had_ to try writing it! I apologize for my lack of originality. Please enjoy the following chapter, I don't own transformers, the characters, any of the series, blah blah blah._

Now, you see, I am not a normal person. A _normal_ person, upon seeing her toys move, would have either **A:** assumed she was dreaming, **B:** thought it was her imagination, or **C:** run away screaming. However, I just happen to be so very abnormal that 'normal' is an insult to me.

And so, instead of doing one of, or all of, these normal things, I laughed like a crazy person and ran toward the box. Hence my complete lack of sanity.

For a split second, right before I reached the box, I heard frantic clattering noises from it. Peering into the box, I saw that most of the toys looked just the way I'd left them. **Most**. War For Cybertron Bee and Beast Wars Cheetor were positioned slightly differently from before. I'd left them pressed to the side of the box, a couple inches apart. Now they were facing away from the box-wall, toward one another. Between them was G1 Prowl. I'd left him standing straight against the wall, with his back to it.

Now, he was laying on his back, facing toward the wall, as if he'd tried to climb it and had fallen. He had most certainly moved! My eyes lit up and I grinned. Carefully, I picked up Prowl, placed the cover on the box, and put my little captive on a shelf. I kneeled on the floor, leaned close, and stared at him.

A minute passed. Then another. My eyes hurt. I blinked, shook my head like a dog, and resumed my all-important staring. And yet another minute passed. This was getting really awkward. So, still staring, I slowly reached up one finger near Prowl.

And poked him.

I'd been hoping for Prowl to twitch, or flinch, or _something_. Nothing happened. Sighing, I mushed my hands into my face, rubbing my eyes. Then I turned back to Prowl.

"Please move," I stated bluntly. Nothing. "C'mon," I pleaded, "I know you and the others are alive. I saw the box moving, and heard you all moving, so _pleeeaase_?"

I poked him again.

Then, I was struck with a brilliant idea. It kinda hurt. You ever have an idea strike you? Those things can pack quite a punch! Well, this idea kept repeatedly striking my head, so I told it to stop. Then, I turned to Prowl.

"Prowl," I said, "Do you know of… **The Beast**? It is a vicious, furry brown creature, equipped with the most awesome and dangerous of pointy claws and teeth. It is called a ferret, and it's name is Zorra. You may have heard of **The Beast** and it's horrors. Now, shall you move and speak? Or shall I allow **The Beast** to…_play_ with you or one of your friends? You can choose…"

Oh, man, I just sounded so evil!


	3. Chapter 3

_Hello again! Here, **The Beast** is introduced. Personally, I think she's the cutest little ferret in the whole world! The transformer toys do not share this opinion._

"Ohhhh, Freefellll…!" I called to my sister in a singsong voice, "Is our adorable-yet-vicious little ferret awake?" A brief pause.

"No, Seekjei," she answered, "Why?" I grinned evilly, like the demented little psycho that I am. This'd be fun…

"Oh, just wondering," I replied innocently. Smirking, I carried Prowl with me as I skipped merrily back to the box.

"Now," I purred, "Let's see… Who would like to play with Zorra?" I knew that Prowl would hate to see any of his friends being injured in any way, especially by the ferrety Beast. After much consideration, I delicately plucked up TF Animated Arcee.

I knew it was cruel, but I said to her, "Prowl wants you to go play with **The Beast**, Arcee. You get to be a pointy little creature's new chew toy. Isn't that right, Prowl?" And with that, I pranced downstairs to the Cage Of The Ferret.

The cage was several feet tall, with multiple levels inside. Near the top, Zorra slept in a pyramid-shaped cloth hammock-thingie, with her dark, fluffy tail sticking out of the round opening on one side. It was suspended above a thick plastic ledge that was connected to the sides of the cage.

Opening one of the large cage-doors, I carefully placed Arcee there, right in front of the napping Beast. Then, I slowly, deliberately closed the door, so that it would seem ominous. I think it was, since I'm pretty sure I saw Arcee shiver.

"Now then," I said to Prowl, "Shall we wait for **The Beast** to wake up on her own? Or shall awaken her myself?" No response. Sighing, I reopened the door, stuck in my hand, and poked the furry creature.

The pile of dark fur twitched, then shuffled around until a pointy little face was looking out at me. The whiskery little being opened her mouth wide in a yawn, exposing long, pointed teeth. Then she placed her curled-up paws on top of her head, raking them down her face to her twitching nose while she yawned again. (I'm serious. She actually does this, and looks like the kind of person you'd imagine looking at a can of fallen soup, yelling in a strange, dramatic voice, "NOOO! THE HORROR!" So funny.)

Zorra blinked and noticed Arcee, who must have been terrified. After sniffing for a couple seconds, Zorra grabbed the femme's arm in her powerful teeth. I heard a small moan beside me: Prowl seemed in _actual pain_ at being unable to help his friend.

Barely a second later, as Zorra yanked on Arcee's arm again, I just couldn't take it anymore. I grabbed Zorra's scruff (which made her yawn again), picked up Arcee and Prowl, closed the cage-door, and stomped upstairs.

I put them back in the box and muttered, "Fine! I can't convince either of you to just _move_ or _anything_. Happy now? I give up!"

_***GASP**__* I've given up! How very disappointing… _


	4. Chapter 4

_And so it was that, completely discouraged, I gave up and never played with the transformer toys ever again… JUST KIDDING! It'd be a lousy story if something like that happened! Heh heh heh… Don't worry; I don't plan on ending this thing anytime soon. So, please sit back, relax, and enjoy our feature presentation…!_

In the days that followed, I felt so guilty for semi-torturing G1 Prowl and TF Animated Arcee, that I was super nice to all of the Transformer toys. Although one time, I'd considered putting one in Zorra's cage and having TF Animated Grimlock watch, since he has less self control, at least in the TV series. But then I decided not to.

I'd make a horrible interrogator; I'm just too sympathetic! So instead, I played with all of them whenever I could, and let them watch G1 and Animated episodes with me on YouTube.

One night, when my family and I watched the 1st Transformers movie again, I had all of our TF toys sit on their box, on pillows, or nearby the couch on which we sat. And, I'll admit, I hugged Movieverse 'Bee during that one scene where he was captured. Poor 'Bee. Lousy Simmons.

I think all the transformers hate Simmons, at least in the first movie. But I don't know, since I can't ask the real ones, and the toys still refuse to answer. Well, _that_ was a weird sentence. Anyway!

My family found it very strange for me to be paying so much attention to them. (Weird even for me, and I'm one of the strangest people I know!) So, I only talked to the toys when my parents weren't around. They worry _enough_ about my complete lack of mental stability already!

One day, I spent almost all of my time telling TF Animated Arcee how very, Very, VERY sorry I was about the Zorra incident. I explained why I did it, why it was wrong, how sorry I was… Et cetera.

"I _do_ know that you're all alive, "I told them all another day, "I'd just _really_ like it if one of you could respond for once." To demonstrate my complete and total repentance and good-nature, I put all of our TF's weapons in one corner of their box, and I let TF Animated Arcee guard them.

I think it pleased her. I mean, she seemed pretty gentle in the series, but you just never know…

When Freefel asked me why I kept talking to our toys, I told her in a fake-joking voice, "You never know; They just might be alive." She laughed and said that it'd be really wonderful if they were.

She left, and I told my stubbornly-mute friends that I wouldn't tell Freefel about them unless they were OK with it.

There was, of course, no response, but I guess they appreciated it…

One day, I was just sitting on the couch, staring into space with a few of them. I was imagining questions that they might ask and was answering them out loud for the toys' benefit. Why I liked Transformers, which series I preferred, what I thought of different characters… Then one time, I was answering a question about someone's vehicle mode, and I realized something.

I hadn't imagined that question. I had heard it.

_OOOHHH! A cliffhanger! Sorry for not updating a bit sooner. Lousy school._


	5. Chapter 5

_Hello again! Again! Here's another chapter! Thanks for the nice reviews! They are wonderfully encouraging!_

I was so shocked, I couldn't speak. Had one of the Transformer toys really just spoken to me? Willingly? This was amazing! Trust! (Having your toys trust you enough to say something in your presence is such a lovely thing.)

Just in case it had been an accident, I pretended not to notice that the question had been asked out loud. I answered it, hoping that maybe another one would be asked.

None of the toys said anything, so I just continued answering un-asked questions. I steered my one-sided conversation toward a topic that would surely inspire questions: the transformer movies!

…Nothing. So, because I was thoroughly bored, I asked them which of the three movies they'd like to watch. No response. Again. I was starting to fear that I might have imagined that one question after all. I sighed heavily, and stared at the ceiling.

Just then, I thought…I thought I heard a tiny, little, faintly audible, "two."

The instant I heard it, I sat bolt upright and stared at the toys. I couldn't contain my elation, _or_ gigantic smile, when I saw Movieverse Bumblebee actually _move_ a little!

"Two?" I squeaked with joy, "OK!" (We hadn't watched that movie in a long time.) I hugged Movieverse 'Bee, got out every single Transformer from the box, and put them all on comfy pillows, cushions, and the couch. Then I got out the movie and set it up on the TV.

I also put in the subtitles (just because I am strange and like subtitles for some strange reason.) I also tried to mute it every time a swear word came up. Why, you ask? Because! I don't like cursing of any sort. ANYWHO!

After several minutes of this, I'm sure the toys must've been wondering why I kept turning the sound off, because I felt something poke my leg. I looked down, and there was Movieverse Elita 1, with her head cocked slightly to the side.

"I'm editing out some of the curse words," I explained, "I don't like them because they're bad." I glanced over at the magenta-and-green/blue helicopter Decepticon, who seemed to be grinning. (If anyone knows what he's supposed to be called, please tell me! Otherwise I'm just going to call him 'Choppy.')

"Nuh-uh," I told him, "Foul language is one thing I _don't_ want to hear any of you say." Then I turned my attention back to the movie. At the point where Sam's mom is yelling about not wanting to live with a "psychotic alien in the garage," I saw my Movieverse Bee sitting with his arms crossed. I patted his head sympathetically.

After the movie, I was thinking about the song at the end of the first movie, "What I've Done." I started singing it, since it's such a cool song, and I think the toys kinda enjoyed it. When I stopped singing, they were all looking at me, and I thought I saw Sunstreaker move his hands just a little bit, like he was going to clap.

Just then, Freefel opened up the door.

She saw the toys and said to me, "Wow, Seekjei! Did you position all of the toys like that yourself?"

Before I could say anything, one of them answered, "No."

_AH HA! The Transformer toys have willingly revealed the fact that they are most certainly alive! Which one was it? How will Freefel react? Where's my hot chocolate? **FireFlare/Freefel:** …What? **CrazyCatGirl/Seekjei:** Just a random question. **FireFlare/Freefel:** Ehh, Ok. By the way, I hid your hot chocolate in a tree. **CrazyCatGirl/Seekjei:** HOT CHOCOLATE! I come for yyooouuuu! *runs away screaming like a lunatic* **FireFlare/Freefel: ***sigh* I'll go get the tranquilizer darts… _


	6. Chapter 6

_Ha ha! Another chapter update so soon? I must be feeling generous! …Either that or the teachers at school are giving less HW… In any case! Here be-eth thy chapter, oh wonderful readers of my story!_

Freefel stared at the Transformer who had spoken. It was Movieverse Arcee.

"Um…" I started to say, unsure of what to do. Freefel looked over at me and asked, "Seekjei? Was that- I mean, did she-… I thought I just heard… Ok, are you being a ventriloquist or something?"

"…I… _can_ be," I answered. I didn't know if Movieverse Arcee had meant or not to speak out, or if the Transformer toys had agreed to let both of us know about them. It was very confusing. I moved in front of Movieverse Arcee just in case.

"Did I fool you?" I asked Freefel, attempting to sound sincere. She still looked doubtful. I glanced out the corner of my eye (how's that even work, huh? Eyes are _round-ish_ they don't have corners! …Back to the matter at hand!) and spotted G1 Prowl moving his hand and nodding a tiny bit.

A second later, Movieverse Arcee stepped out from behind my leg, waved at the gawking Freefel, and announced, "Good evening, human! It was I who spoke before." Freefel's eyes widened as a huge smile covered her face. (Wait for it! 1… 2… 3… Now!)

"OH MY GOODNESS YOU'RE ALIVE!" she laughed in surprise and excitement,"_OhmygoodnessOhMyGoodness**OhMyGoodness**ICan'tBelieveIt_**You'reAlive**ThisIsAwesomeHaHaHa!"

This… was all said… _within 3.8 seconds_. It would have made TF Animated Blurr very proud. Or jealous. …It just made my ears hurt.

She bounced up and down around the room like a supremely hyper and demented rabbit on coffee, with her hands over her mouth, squealing. Ohh, my ears.

"What are you two doing up there?" came our dad's voice from downstairs, "What's so exciting?" Uh-oh.

Thinking fast, I grabbed Movieverse Arcee, plunked her on top of our TV, pointed at her with Freefel watching, and called, "Nothing! I'm just showing Freefel something on TV! That's all!" Odd? Most certainly. Necessary? Possibly. False? No.

"OK," came the reply from downstairs, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Then, I closed the door, found a pillow, and calmly handed it to my sister.

She nodded a thank you, held the pillow up to her face, and began to scream into it, jumping up and down. Astonishingly, she somehow managed to do this _quietly!_ Then she ran out of adrenaline, held the pillow away from her face, gasped in air until she was gagging, and collapsed onto the ground in a dramatic heap.

In between her choking noises, she gasped, "You can't…! *gasp* Breathe through…! *gasp* A pillow!" I knew this to be true.

Once she had inhaled a sufficient amount of oxygen, all the while looking like a bizarre flopping and gasping fish, she demanded eagerly, "Seekjei, why didn't you tell me?" Movieverse Elita 1 hesitantly stepped forward and explained, "We didn't want her to tell you. Neither or you were supposed to know."

She stopped when Movieverse Arcee started yelling horribly unpleasant things at me for stranding her on top of the TV screen. I got her down and told Freefel everything that'd happened. Then she got mad at me for the Zorra incident with TF Animated Arcee.

"Man!" I yelled at the universe, "Just let it go!"


	7. Chapter 7

_Ok, I'm really sorry for not updating sooner. School was crazy and I had so much to do. I now offer this chapter to appease the great readers of Fanfiction! Read long and prosper! (I don't own the original quote, "Live long and prosper," or Transformers.)_

You'd be surprised at how quickly a person can get used to sentient Transformer toys living in their house. I soon found out that, since we had no Optimus Prime at the moment, G1 Prowl was our Autobots' leader.

This was greatly irritating to little mini G1 Ultra Magnus, who was rubber or something and couldn't even transform. But, being small, chibi-ish, and silly-looking, he could do nothing about it. (It just wouldn't do to have such a funny-looking little chibi as the leader of our Autobots. Everyone except him agreed with this.)

The G1 Ravages were surprisingly well behaved most of the time, at least when they weren't exploring everything they could get into. It turned out that one, with faded coloring, was actually a female! She and the other were like brother and sister.

The two apparently enjoyed catching any bugs or spiders that got into the house, so I enlisted their help in ridding our home of the little things.

(No insects, bugs, or spiders were actually harmed in any way, merely tossed out the door to freedom.) Cheetor was the one Transformer on the Autobot side that was almost always nice to those two, because they're felines like him.

The two Bumblebees acted like brothers, and playfully argued whose yellow coloring was better. Sillies.

The two Arcees were like sisters who were completely opposite. TF Animated Arcee was kinda shy, but very nice, and eventually forgave me for the Zorra incident. Movieverse Arcee, however… Well, let's just say that her favorite activity is target practice. With _moving_ targets.

Beast Wars Airazor and Silverbolt managed to convince me to make wing extensions for them to actually fly. The fact that their wings were a bit too small for actual flight had been irritating them for a long time.

I also had to do the same for our two helicopter Decepticons. (_By the way, I found out that Choppy's real name is Spinister, but I still prefer calling him Choppy._) In return, the two promised not to use any swear words, at least in my presence. Yeah, yeah, I know: never trust a 'con. But I'm trying to be unprejudiced here.

One time, Zorra got out of her cage in the middle of the night, and G1 Sunstreaker told me to blame the Decepticons. _Tsk, tsk, tsk_. I found out later, from TF Animated Grimlock, that it'd been Sunstreaker who had opened the cage door as a prank.

So I let all of our Decepticons throw Leggos at the yellow prankster for a minute. The Scrapticons, who I call Scrappy and Scrapt, preferred trying to build more Scrapticons out of the Leggos. And Movieverse Arcee used those for target practice when she was feeling least destructive.

Later on, I found some of our mini Beast Wars Transformers: a red T-rex, a blue and brown triceratops, a purple pterodactyl, a white tiger, a gray wolf, and a brown eagle. They got along well with the Ravages, other minis, TF Animated Grimlock and Snarl, and our little purple cassette 'con.

So, Freefel and I enjoyed our family of small Transformers. Until one day…

When I showed them Fanfiction.

_Ooh, what will result from this? I'll try to update soon, OK?_


	8. Chapter 8

_Hello, hola, bonjour, and greetings! Here's another chapter to make up for not updating sooner. I hope you enjoy it. _

The day that we introduced our Transformers to the wonders of FanFiction… will forever remain seared into my brain cells for all eternity. It all started out with a simple, innocent suggestion… Oh, but what horrors that suggestion wrought!

…Wrought. It's a funny word, wrought. Sounds like 'rot.' Wrought, rot, wrought, rot. Oh, great; now it doesn't even sound like a word! Anyway, on with the story!

Freefel and I had been hanging out with our mini-Transformers (I can't call them _toys_ anymore; it sounds too degrading.)

My sister told me, "You know, this would be a really cool Fanfiction story. This same thing has happened in _tons_ of fics."

I nodded, "Yeah. I wonder why it _actually_ _did_ happen. Maybe my complete weirdness and utter insanity brought them to life?"

"No, we've always been alive," said Elita 1, "All of us Transformers are alive. I heard you talking about 'FanFiction.' What is it?" I glanced over to where the other Transformers were… sort of working together to build stairs up to the TV. (The Autobots preferred using leggos or wooden blocks as stair-building material, while the Decepticons insisted on large tissue boxes, board game covers, stacked DVDs, and such.)

I gently helped Elita 1 onto a small table, then knelt to be at eye-level with her and asked, "You've never heard about FanFiction?" She shook her head.

"Yeah," called up Sunstreaker, "What _is_ FanFiction? You two talk about it a lot." So, Freefel and I explained what FanFiction was. Then, Being the idiotic and brain-damaged beings that we are, we decided to _show_ our Transformers FanFiction _about_ Transformers. Poor, poor, foolish us.

Oh, we were so _sure_ that it'd be just _fine!_ We thought they just look at a _few_ stories! We never thought they'd take it _seriously!_ We thought they'd eventually get _bored_ and _forget_ about it!

_NO!_ No such luck. You know what we found when we found? When we came home from school? … CHAOS!

Movieverse Arcee was sitting atop Zorra's furry back, wielding a chopstick lance, and shouting, "Onward, my steed! Onward!" And Zorra ran around in circles.

Choppy was fleeing from them both, riding on top of my small, remote control monster truck, which everyone thought was Movieverse Wheelie. (It wasn't. It looks nothing like Wheelie anyway!)

The two Bumblebees were racing through the house, knocking over various small objects in their quest to discover who was 'the fastest thing on wheels.' Thanks a lot, Transformers Animated. Now I have _this_ to deal with!

The G1 Ravages and purple cassette 'con were trying to get into our old tape player because they thought it might be Soundwave.

Movieverse Elita 1 was perched on top of a tall lamp with a pair of binoculars, peering around the room and occasionally shrieking, "_SPAHY-DAH!_" ('spider')

Scrappy and Scrapt were sword fighting with plastic knives (really well, I might add), the smallest Transformers were all trying to set something on fire, and G1 Prowl was banging his head against a wall. Oh, yippee.

_This was (I hope) a funny chapter. No real plot, just silliness. Hope ya liked it! _


	9. Chapter 9

_One of my fish died. He was a Zebra Danio with a bizarre name: FighterJet. I named him that. Why? Just because, and that's the only reason I need. Enjoy the story._

It took almost an _hour_ to find all of our Transformers. Freefel and I were very busy during that time. I had to convince Movieverse Elita 1 that no giant spiders from 'Transformers Animated' were going to get her. Freefel had to catch the scrapticons, take away their plastic knife-swords, and find out where in the universe they'd learned to fence so well!

I managed to rescue Zorra from Movieverse Arcee and the yarn-bridle that she'd forced the poor ferret to wear. We then caught the two Bumblebees in butterfly nets and cleaned up everything they'd knocked over. I also had to soothe a traumatized, mini Movieverse Ravage that Movieverse Bumblebee was _not_ going to rip out his spine. (Ew.)

Then Freefel and I worked on convincing Choppy that the joystick for the remote-control car was _not_ a mind-control device to be used for diabolical purposes. He'd been trying it (unsuccessfully) on random Autobots, which just resulted in their getting annoyed and generally wanting to hurt him.

As I tried to find the last few missing Transformers, I heard the phone ring. I was kinda busy trying to get Airazor down from the ceiling, so Freefel went to get the phone instead. It was our mom calling, telling us that she'd be home from work soon.

Just then, I heard the sudden and horrifying sound of roaring and maniacal laughter. Since it was so startling, and since I was on top of the couch at the time, I jumped. And hit my head on the ceiling. … _**OW.**_

I lay on the floor, feeling dazed and hoping that my head wasn't bleeding. Because that would ruin the carpet.

Shrieks of, "It's dead!" combined with panicked yelling, the roaring noise, and more demented cackling, creating an odd chorus of disturbing sounds.

As I sat up, I heard Freefel hurriedly say into the phone, "!"

…_Huh_? …Oh. There was Sunstreaker, sitting atop the vacuum, cackling like a lunatic. Figures. He'd hotwired our vacuum and was now racing it around the room at an impressive speed. Great.

I just kinda sat there, staring. Choppy came to sit next to me, and half-heartedly pointed the remote control joystick at the vacuum, then made the sound of a very depressed laser, "Pyew."

He looked so disappointed that I patted his tiny shoulder and said, "You can go knock him off, if you want." I swear, his little green face lit up in this hilarious grin, and he transformed to helicopter mode immediately.

I watched, fascinated, as he flew over and whacked Sunstreaker off of the crazed vacuum, which he'd been steering somehow. Freefel shoved the appliance over, and demanded that Sunstreaker show us how to stop it (since the 'off' switch wasn't working. Of course.)

When the stubborn prankster refused, I told him that he was scaring Zorra, making the situation a lot worse, and (more dangerously) irritating me. I saw uncertainty flicker in his optics. Then I told him that if he didn't turn the vacuum off, I'd let Movieverse Arcee come up with a punishment for him!

The vacuum was disabled mere seconds later.

_Did you like it? There are much more exciting chapters to come…_


	10. Chapter 10

_I apologize once more for not updating sooner. This chapter is going to be a really important one though! It'll make the entire story more interesting. I hope._

The next morning was, thank goodness, a Saturday. Oddly enough, I woke up EARLY! Here it is that I can barely drag myself out of bed to the alarm clock on a weekday, and now I'm awake before 6:00AM!

I considered giving my internal clock some serious talking-to, but I knew it wouldn't listen. So, I lay in bed, trying to go back to sleep. Being the impatient and I-have-the-attention-span-of-a-highly-caffeinated-chipmunk sort of person that I am, I couldn't stand it after about 2 ½ minutes.

So I put on some everyday clothes: a plain pink T-shirt and light sweatpants. Then I sat on my bed and opened up the nearby window so I could get some fresh air. Interestingly enough, this was during _wintertime!_

Yep, you heard me right; about 40 degrees outside, an open window, and light clothing. For a normal person, this should result in at least a mild case of chilliness.

Not me! I can stand in the same room with a person who's wearing a jacket and freezing cold, and I'll wish for more air-conditioning. So weird…

Anywho! I just sat there with my head out the window, breathing in the cold air. I closed my eyes, silently listening to the birds chirping, the leaves skipping along the road, and the breeze that rippled my messy hair. So peaceful.

After a minute or two, I heard a faint sound. It was like a large animal slowly walking through the brush. Unusual.

I snapped my eyes open, and peered into the just-lightening neighborhood. Listening intently, I located the general direction of the sound: some woods near the house across from ours'.

There was the sound of rustling bushes and snapping twigs. Sounded big. Was it a deer? I wasn't sure… Closing the window halfway, I quietly snuck towards the door.

"Mmf, sis?" came a muffled voice. Freefel was blinking at me from her bed on her side of our room. "wha's you doin'?" she mumbled questioningly.

"Nothing," I answered, "Just gonna go outside. Go back to sleep, it's OK." She nodded blearily, "Nmm… 'Kay…" Then I tiptoed out the door, past our parents' room, quietly leapt down the carpeted stairs, down more stairs, and out the front door.

Barefoot, I slowly padded over to some tree by our driveway, which bordered our next-door neighbors' yard. Then I hunched down, wrapped my arms around myself, and waited. The cool grass tickled my feet, and a gentle breeze flowed past me.

The sound I'd heard grew slightly louder, more distinct. Almost… almost like shifting metal. But why would…?

Then, out of the woods came, not a deer or person, but a white-and-coal-colored, human-sized robot.

_WHOO! I've been wanting to do this chapter for AGES! And now, I have done it. So, what do you think it is? Autobot or Decepticon? And no, it isn't some normal, boring, man-made robot prototype. Blah! That'd just be… anticlimactic. And boring. So, there you have it! 10 chapters! WOOHOO! I hope you enjoyed it._


	11. Chapter 11

_Hello! I apologize for not updating a bit sooner. School's been crazy, and I'm having a bit of trouble with Microsoft Word. Has the wait been suspenseful? I hope so. Anyway, here's the chapter!_

"No way," I breathed. The mechanical creature looked a bit smaller than me, maybe about 4 ½ to 5 feet tall, and shimmered in the low morning light.

It had pointy arms and backwards-bent legs. From the top of its legs to its shoulders, it looked as if it was wearing chain mail or loose metal scales. The head was pointed and flat, and had 2 dark sky-blue eyes. Or optics.

I'd say optics, because that's the term for Transformers' eyes, and this definitely looked like a Transformer. The fact that its optics were blue suggested that it was of the Autobot faction, but I remembered that Frenzy's optics had been blue in the movie.

The robot was slender, denoting a female, and was pearl-white with silver and blue-gray accents. It stepped cautiously forward, out of the woods with sharp, metallic clinking noises, and stepped across the road.

I got pretty worried when it started looking around, turning its pointed head from side to side. I felt sure that it would see me and, until I could be sure it was friendly, I decided to hide.

Ever so slowly, I scooched back under a low branch of a nearby evergreen tree, hoping that it'd offer concealment. The creature's head snapped towards me, and I froze.

…After a few seconds, it turned away and walked a little bit towards my left. I inched backwards again, and it glanced back at me again. It made a raspy, hissing noise, then a sound like an animal clicking its teeth.

"I don't speak Cybertronian," I said to it. Well that was a mistake! I guess the fact that I was speaking proved to the robot that I was alive, since it charged towards me.

I don't know why I didn't scream as I ran away. Maybe 'cause that'd draw attention… Which is sorta what I should have wanted, right? I dunno.

Anyway, one second, I was running towards my house, and the next, I could feel claws raking at my back and tangling in my hair! It was so fast!

And then I was face-flat on the ground, waking up.

I lay there blinking. Had I been dreaming? Where'd the robot go? When I tried to get up, I regained feeling in my tired limbs and let out a yelp.

My back, spine, and shoulders felt as if they'd been used as a dartboard. Ouch. They felt like that thing that happens when your leg falls asleep, and when you move it then it goes all pins and needles.

My limbs were sore, my head ached, I was tired, and my back felt heavy and painful. I managed to get up, feeling wobbly and weighed down.

"Hello?" I called quietly, "Transformer? Where are you?"

"Right here," a voice hissed behind me.

_Yikes! Exciting, huh? At least I hope so. Whaddaya think, peoples? Didja like it? Please review and give me your opinion!_


	12. Chapter 12

Hey, peoples! I return from the ever-obnoxious land of school and the homework-dungeons! It's been keeping me away from me all-important-ish typings of the story! Or, if that boring and entirely true excuse doesn't work for ya, I was kidnapped by Decepticons and forced to do boring-and-annoying paperwork for them in their prison. I don't own Transformers, etc.

"YIPE!" I let out a yelp and spun around. Nobody was there.

"Uh… Are you invisible?" I asked, and was answered by a scornful laugh from behind me. I spun around again, but saw no one.

"No," the taunting voice hissed, "Hiding in plain sight!" I looked up, wondering if it could be flying in the air somehow. …Nope. Nothing.

"Foolish flesh-thing," it laughed derisively, so I rolled my eyes and muttered sarcastically, "Thanks for the insult. Now where are you, Decepticon?" I was sure that it was a Decepticon, since an Autobot wouldn't be so nasty.

The voice of the Decepticon sort of sighed, "Figures you know of us. This why you not scream?"

"Yes," I answered, and thought to myself why the 'Con was talking so strangely. There was an inquiring squeaky noise, almost as if in response to my thought, and the Decepticon said, almost to itself, "Hmm. I try… this."

Almost immediately, there were sharp, stinging pains at the back of my head and near my neck, obviously being somehow caused by the Decepticon.

"Stop it!" I cried out, "Stop doing whatever you're doing, 'Con!" I clawed at the source of the pain, and was startled to feel thin wires near my shoulders!

Fearfully, I twisted my arms around to feel my spine. There were metal wires there as well. The Decepticon was on my back!

OK. I'll admit it. I freaked out. I totally panicked, started yelping, "Get off, get off, GetOffGetOffGETOFF!" and raced around the side of my house to the back yard and it's nearby woods.

The only reason that I wasn't shrieking like a lunatic, which I am, was that I didn't want any neighbors to hear and call the police or something.

"No get off," stated the Decepticon, stubbornly clinging to my spine. This refusal resulted in yet more freaking out, as I jumped around wailing, "Baaadd! Bad scarab-thingy! I don't wanna be like the Blue Beetle!"

(I do not own 'Batman: The Brave And The Bold.' Nor shall I ever.)

This reference to a cartoon-show obviously puzzled the clinging Transformer, because it made a confused-sounding whistling noise. Then I came up with a plan.

I turned my back to a large tree and jumped backwards, slamming my back into it. (Hey, I never said it was a great plan!)

"OW!" I yelled, and the 'Con echoed it with an angry screech. I tried again, slamming into the hard wood once more.

"Oww!" I moaned, and the Decepticon replied with an unhappy whining noise. I tried reaching behind my back to yank it off, but my arm stiffened, and the Decepticon hissed, "Not get it, human? Wires connected to you nerves!"

Well. That certainly didn't sound good.

Well? Did you like it? I believe my ferret thinks it's boring, since she is walking around near the keyboard and ignoring me while she battles a plastic spoon. Ferrets…


	13. Chapter 13

_Hi. Here's another chapter for ya. I've had a lot to do, so I haven't been uploading these as much. Sorry about that. Anyway, enjoy. I don't own Transformers._

After much quiet-ish yelling and jumping and crashing into trees, I just laid face-down near some pine trees and moaned.

Of course, the Decepticon was just fine with this, and continued doing its unpleasant little needle-poke things to my poor spine. It felt like pointy wires in my back.

The 'Con made clicking noises as it did so, and I groaned, "Shut up and get off my back! You're annoying and creepy." There was another whirring and clicking noise before it responded, "You insults pathetic."

I rolled my eyes and muttered, "Well, I don't spend years making them up to be the most perfect insults in all creation. I have a life, you know. A crazy life of bizarre-ness and insanity, but a life just the same. Unless you kill me of course; then I will have no life because I'll be dead."

There was a pause as it poked my head with something pointy saying definitively, "Strange human." I laughed, "Now whose insults are pathetic?"

"You," came the reply. "Shut up, femme," I growled. Yes; by now I had figured that it was definitely female. Mostly by the voice and classic scornfulness that all we of the female gender seem to possess.

There was another round of stinging pokes and pain near my head and neck. "Oowww," I moaned/ whined at her, "Stop it, that huuurrts! If you're gonna kill me, just get it over with."

She seemed surprised and said, "No kill. Why?" I thumped my forehead on the ground repeatedly out of frustration, "Never mind, never mind. At least this means that I haven't said my last words to Fff… FREEFEL!"

I leaped to my feet with inspiration: Freefel would help me! Maybe she could get a crowbar or blowtorch or something! …Ok, cancel the blowtorch.

As I raced back toward my house, I felt a wave of confusion from the Decepticon. Wait, what? I skidded to a halt and nearly fell over.

"OK, that was really weird," I said. "What?" the Decepticon asked, to which I replied, "I just…felt your confusion. How's that possible?"

There was another stinging poke near the back of my head as she answered, "Me wires, you brain is connected. Can feel what is think."

I ran to the nearest tree and started hitting my head against it while moaning, "I'm stuck with a psychotic alien robot on my spine who thinks she's a Yeerk!" -_I don't own Animorphs._- "Help me Autobots and Animorphs, you're my only hope!" –_I don't own Star wars._-

*Awkward silence with cricket chirps…* I think if I could have seen the Decepticon, she'd be giving me a blank stare.

'My Princess Leia impression has been WASTED on a Decepticon,' I thought. "'Wasted'?" she hissed, "You is waste of fleshy creature!"

That gave me an idea; the 'Con could hear what I was thinking. I constantly thought tons of insane things that might disturb and scare most normal people. Hmm…

Now I had a plan. To unleash my insanity!

_Wow. I never knew that crazy thoughts like the ones in my head could come in handy! Well, I hope you liked this chapter. Please review. I need reviews to fuel my weirdness and chapter-writing-abilities of lunacy!_


	14. Chapter 14

_Greetings, people! I have to remember to write chapters and upload them. Seriously, I've written out over **50** chapters, but only uploaded these first few. Yikes. OH, yummy: PRINGLES! My sister has brought them to me as gifts of peace, and must be commended. I commend-eth thee, O FireFlare the Great! And now I must type funny fanfictions and listen to oddly depressing songs of awesomeness. Life is good._

The Decepticon was screaming. Loudly. "What? Stop! Stop it, human, Ssstoppp!" Her screaming was mucho noisy in my ears.

Was I battering her (and my back) against a big tree? No.

Was I slowly prying her off of my spine with a crowbar or large stick? Negatory.

Was I laying on my back, thereby slowly squishing her with my weight? Nein.

I was not doing any of these things, although I had previously tried all and failed miserably. That 'Con Femme was tough!

She was still clinging to my upper spine like that Blue-Beetle-Scarab-thingy I mentioned earlier. **(**_See chapter 12, ""Baaadd! Bad scarab-thingy! I don't wanna be like the Blue Beetle!" (I do not own 'Batman: The Brave And The Bold.' Nor shall I ever.)"_**)**

Anyway, all I was doing that caused the small Decepticon to scream so much… was that I was simply thinking.

Ordinarily, this causes no lasting psychological damage to anyone nearby, because most people I know aren't mind readers… A-As far as I know…

However! The nearest thing in the vicinity happened to be a small-ish Decepticon, who could, creepily enough, hear what I was thinking, because of all those wires she had shoved in my brain while I was unconscious.

I had grown exceedingly miffed at having a most-likely-evil Decepticon attached to my spine, so I was determined to get her off. And I decided to do this by thinking.

What was I thinking, you may wonder? I shan't tell you exactly, because all the blood and scary things may haunt your brain cells for the rest of all eternity. And that would be bad. For me. Since you people may consider getting revenge on me for your poor, permanently-scarred brain cells. And I wouldn't want that.

First, I thought of actual pain and unpleasant things such as that. Every scraped knee, dentist visit, bicycle crash, the time that big tree branch fell on my head…

(_I'm serious, that last bit really did actually happen. Long story. …Well, actually not really, but I'm just not gonna tell you because I'm stubborn like that. Ha ha._)

"Now will you get off my spine?" I asked, to which she responded in an aggravated hiss, "No." Hmm… Stubborn little femme.

"Stop try to get me off," she growled, so I replied, "Do or do not. There is no try." Thank you, Yoda! (_I don't own Star Wars. I wish I did, 'cause that'd be so cool!_)

So I thought all sorts of scary, unpleasant, nasty, disturbing, odd, and strange things to her. Like one of those creepy-surrealism-paintings-that-famous-people-made.

That's what made the Decepticon start screaming. Honestly, you'd be surprised; for a girl who acts silly and insane most of the time, I can be pretty dark.

Eventually, the 'Con agreed, not to get off, but to at least quit insulting me every few seconds. And jabbing my spinal column full of needle-wires. I consented to that.

I decided to go inside and tell Freefel, but when I got to the front door, it was locked! One of my parents had gotten up, noticed it was open, and closed it. Great.

Now I was stuck outside of my house with a Decepticon. On a Saturday, no less!

_Hope you liked it! And please continue the wonderfully encouraging reviews!_


	15. Chapter 15

_Hello! I'd like to thank everyone for all the reviews! I now announce: my special thanks to_ Screamer's girl and Dragonoid Prime Girl for the giving the most reviews, "Thank you and thank you," greetings to Ally, "Yo," and mucho encouragement to Blackhooves, "I hope you can post your stories soon 'cause I'm sure they'll be great!"

"…What you doing?" asked the Decepticon blankly, so I asked back impatiently, "What's it look like I'm doing?" What was I doing, you inquire?

I was standing in my family's front yard, locked out of the house, in the middle of winter, wearing only a light shirt and sweatpants, grudgingly allowing a small Decepticon to remain attached to my upper spine and nerves, while I threw sticks at my bedroom window on the 2nd floor up.

Oddly enough, I find that reasonably normal. Hooray for me and my demented thought process!

"Strange human," stated the Decepticon matter-of-factly. "I thought you weren't gonna insult me anymore," I told her, slightly miffed.

"Is no insult. Is **fact**," she replied. How reassuring. I continued throwing large twigs and small sticks at the window, and they made some very lovely noises as they bounced off of the screen.

Finally, Freefel opened up the window groggily and yelled, "WHAT?" in an I'm-going-to-commit-a-homicide-because-I've-been-woken-up-far-too-early-for-my-liking kind of voice.

"Open the door, please!" I called, and my loving-yet-scary-enough-to-need-proffesional-'help'-every-other-weekend sister growled back, "Why should I?" It sounded like she was seriously considering closing the window and leaving me outside.

I glanced around quickly. Good; no witnesses. (_Witnesses as in, people to overhear me speaking._)

"I found a 'Con," I called up to her in a loud whisper. It was as if someone had flicked a light switch; Freefel's tired scowl flashed into a wide-eyed, fangirl-ish face of disbelieving hope. And invisible warning, "If you're kidding, I shall kill you. Sloowwly."

"Be right there!" she squeaked excitedly. Seconds later, I heard her thumping footsteps and a 'whump!' as she jumped down some stairs, and the door flew open so fast that it almost hit my head. (Which would've gotten blood on the door, which is a real pain to clean off.)

"Thank you!" I yelled to Freefel as I zipped past her and into the bathroom up the stairs. Our bathroom had a large mirror, and I wanted to see exactly what the 'Con had done to my back, which kept hurting.

Freefel came storming up the stairs, looking furious because she thought I'd tricked her. Then she noticed something and said worriedly, "Uh… Seekjei? You have blood on the back of your shirt…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" I muttered at her as I pulled up the fabric, "This is why!" …I had to clamp my hand over my little sister's mouth to keep her from screaming.

Being my sister, and therefore a complete lunatic like myself, Freefel bit my hand. I sighed, "Yes, Freefel, there is a Decepticon stuck on my back, and she won't come off."

I watched in the mirror as the pair of thin, silver headphones near the back of my head transformed into the 'Con's head. It hissed at Freefel, then transformed back and muttered, "I is not 'this'! I is ShortCircuit!" The 'Con had a name! T'was good to know.

_If there are any OCs called 'ShortCircuit,' I apologize! I don't own the name! Just this character in this story, and that does be all!_


	16. Chapter 16

_HI! I know I haven't updated this story for a long time, so sorry! I hope that my updation (is that even a word?) of this chapter 16 will convince any concerned, paranoid people out there that I ain't dead or something. Hooray!_

So, later that Saturday morning, our Dad took Freefel and me toy-shopping, because he's just so awesome. Before he did so, I'd managed to find out a bit of information from ShortCircuit, who wasn't actually so bad.

She was, obviously, a Decepticon. Also, she had a major problem (or glitch, as she and the other Transformers referred to disabilities or permanent malfunctions).

Poor thing. _Wait; did I just say what I think I said, about a Decepticon? Why yes, subconscious, yes you did. OK then; on with the story? Most certainly, yes._

She couldn't transform properly. She could only partially transform, or transform into half of something, or transform into a small and raggedly version of something. So, if she'd transformed into maybe, a vacuum, she might be the main part of it, but bigger, and without a covering or the top part.

So, you may ask, what exactly had she scanned and transformed into? Well, you'll never guess. She was a pair of mechanical wings!

But, ShortCircuit couldn't actually fly. She didn't have a pair of wings; she was a pair of wings. And a pair of wings cannot fly without a main body to make them flap. It would be like a small fish trying to swim with a whale's huge flippers. Not possible.

…Which is where I come in. I was the one who had to make her, as the wings, flap. That's what she'd meant when talking about connecting all those nerve-wires in my spine and back-muscle. I could move her wings the way a person moves a prosthetic limb.

I didn't have any time to try it out, because by the time I'd washed the blood out of my pink shirt, I was worn out, so I went back to bed to rest. Which wasn't easy, since I had to lay on my side, 'cause ShortCircuit still refused to detach from my spinal column.

So I gave up and stumbled out of bed, again. Then, on the way to the store, I had to keep answering ShortCircuit's incessant questions. This was difficult, since my first instinct was to answer her out loud, which would have really confused my Dad.

At one store, we bought Movieverse Barricade and Roadbuster. This got me even more excited than when we usually buy TF-toys, since I now knew that they were alive.

I had to keep pushing ShortCircuit's head down, since she kept poking it out of the back of my shirt collar to look around. She sometimes hissed at the Autobot-toys. And people.

So, I just stayed in the little Transformer-toy section of the store, answering ShortCircuit's never-ending questions and wondering if I was just a crazy person (_which I am_) with a split-personality (_not that 'we' know of_).

Then my dad took us to Freefel, ShortCircuit, and I to another store. There, we bought a small G1 Optimus Prime. Finally! The Autobots at my house could have their true leader! A small one, granted, but still!

And we bought, in a ragged, taped-up box, a small G1 Starscream. Upon doing so, I commenced mentally fangirl 'squee'-ing, since he's one of my all-time favorite characters in most series I've watched (_except in Transformers Prime. There I hate him_).

As my dad drove us home, I realized something. I hadn't told any of our Transformers about ShortCircuit yet.

_Yay! I finally updated! I hope you are pleased, readers! The next chapter will have a bit more funniness, by the way. Sorry for the long wait._


	17. Chapter 17

_It's school's fault I haven't updated in days! If it were up to me, I'd update at least every 2 days! But, I can't. I is mucho de sorry, peoples. Anyway, here's a chapter!_

When I got home, I brought the four new Transformers up to the room that houses all of our little Transformers in/ near a cardboard box. I took Freefel with me of course, 'cause I didn't think I'd be able to tell them about ShortCircuit on my own.

I helped a few of our smaller Transformers out of their box, where they'd all been hiding as usual, and told them what we'd bought.

They were all really excited, but the 'Cons were worried that I might have bought only Autobots.

They scowled –and the Autobots cheered- when I got out mini G1 Optimus Prime. Normal-sized G1 Prowl willingly relinquished his title as, "Leader of the Autobots at Seekjei and Freefel's House."

The Decepticons all applauded when I showed them Movieverse Barricade, and the Autobots all grumbled a little. Everyone was really surprised when I brought out Movieverse Roadbuster, who was bigger than all of them, even TF-Animated Grimlock!

Beast Wars Airazor and Silverbolt were exceptionally perturbed at the presence of another flier when I showed them mini G1 Starscream, but all the 'Cons all rejoiced.

But, before I could take any of the new Transformers out of their boxes, mini G1 Starscream started speaking! This was rather odd, because according to our Transformers (_and some on FanFiction and DeviantArt_), TF toys don't usually wake up until they're out of their box and in robot mode.

That's when I remembered; we had bought little Starscream in a box that was already ripped opened and partially taped closed again.

Starscream informed everyone that he'd already been awake for ages, and that he'd really appreciate being released. So the little female Ravage went to help him out.

Then she asked, "So… How'd your box get ripped open?"

A second later, little Starscream was, well, screaming. And rocking the box back and forth like crazy. This sudden reaction shocked everybody, so it took a couple seconds for me to actually do something.

"OK, OK!" I told him, "We'll drop the subject, alright?" He finally calmed down and said "Thank you, human." Well! How polite of him!

So we opened up all the boxes and freed our new Transformers of their casings. Just then, our dad came up the stairs, so everyone besides Freefel and I had to play dead.

(_It'd be weird if Freefel and I played dead the instant our dad came up, huh? You know, "Hi kids!" "G-g-gack! *clutches throat and falls over*" "…Um, are you ok?" "No, we're dead." "Ah." …That'd be interesting._)

He decided to help us out, so we all worked on transforming our newest TF toys. It took forever to transform Roadbuster, and every time I heard a 'click,' I thought that I'd broken something!

So finally, the next day, they were all, including the difficult giant green Autobot, in robot mode. Although Barricade's foot was a little bent.

The other Decepticons all consoled him by pointing out various problems that the Autobot toys had, like how TF-Animated Grimlock's leg keeps falling off (no matter how gentle I try to be!)

This resulted in the grouchy T-rex chasing them all around the room, causing me to laugh and temporarily forget about introducing ShortCircuit.

_Heh heh heh. Well, that's all I can do for now. I have a school assignment I have to do, so bye! Please review with any advice or comments ya got!_


	18. Chapter 18

_HI! I've been really enjoying spring break, and haven't updated. Sorry for my laziness, it actually wasn't school's fault this time! Anywho…_

So, I decided to tell our Transformers about ShortCircuit.

"Ok, everyone," I started out, "Now that you're all acquainted, transformed, and out of your boxes," –I saw little Starscream shudder- "I have someone to show you."

ShortCircuit poked her head out of the back of my shirt collar. (_I'm surprised she hadn't done that earlier. Maybe she'd been too shy or tired_.)

She looked down at all of the Transformers, saw the Decepticons, and made a faint, happy chirp-noise. She noticed the Autobots and hissed.

I sighed, then announced, "Femmes and mechs, 'Cons and 'Bots of all sizes, meet the Decepticon ShortCircuit." She just hissed again.

'Oh, great first impression,' I thought as the mini-Autobots tensed up and reached for their weapons. ShortCircuit let out a growling sigh and transformed her head back into headphone-mode.

"Is many autobots. Is not many Decepticons," she stated in a miffed voice. I could just **hear** her upper-casing and lower-casing of the faction names. I rolled my eyes.

"ShortCircuit," I sighed, "I'm trying my best not to be prejudiced here, OK? Autobots and Decepticons are equal!" She obviously didn't agree with me.

Meanwhile, the little Decepticons were climbing up my arms to greet their comrade (it tickles!) and most of the Autobts were muttering about treason. Oh, great.

Roadbuster, Movieverse Bumblebee, and G1 Prowl had stepped in front of the other Autobots to protect them, and Movieverse Arcee was rummaging around in the cardboard box to find the most dangerous weapon she could.

…She came out with Movieverse Barricade's big claw-arm-thingy and TFAnimated Grimlock's flame sword. You'd be surprised how much simple plastic can hurt when it's being wielded by a mini-femme!

I threatened (as I leaped away in terror) to bury her in giant strawberries. (_A bizarre threat, I know. But this is me we're talking about here._)

This usually gets Movieverse Arcee to listen, because she HATES being buried under giant strawberries, since they are gooey and squishy (_and when she tries to claw her way out, the juice gets all over her arms and dries, making maneuverability difficult._)

For once, she actually ignored my threat, which she never does! This… was **very bad**.This meant that little Movieverse Arcee was so supremely infuriated that it would be impossible to describe. …I would most likely not survive.

Jumping to the temporary safety of the couch, I yelped, "Hey! Any 'Bots or 'Con wanna help me out here?"

Well, the mini-Autobots all agreed with Movieverse Arcee (_to a far less murderous degree of course_), so I'd be getting no help from them! The 'Cons were all way to scared of Movieverse Arcee (_with good reason; she can be rather scary_).

"Freefel?" I called, jumping away from the now-derangedly screeching Movieverse Arcee, "A little help here?" "Way ahead of you, sis!" she called, and promptly ran away.

I had just enough time to think, "Traitor!" before she reappeared, wielding a butterfly net.

This would be interesting.

_Heh heh. There's a reason Arcee's so crazy at this moment, besides ShortCircuit's arrival. You'll find out soon! Please review and tell me what you thought._


	19. Chapter 19

_Hi, I know it's been over a week since I updated; I'm SSOOOO sorry! Blame the evilness of homework, not me! Here art thou chapter to read-eth. Please enjoy-eth._

With the speed and grace of one well-versed in the art of butterfly-catching, and the foolish bravery of a crazy person, Freefel swung the net, effectively capturing Movieverse Arcee.

Said femme started screaming horribly insulting things at everyone in the room (except for Movieverse Bumblebee for some reason) and began climbing/ clawing her way out of the net.

Freefel saw this, unceremoniously dumped the vicious femme into our ferret's carrying cage (basically a cat-carrier), and slammed it's door closed. She then shoved the carrier against the wall and away from herself.

A string of death-threats and insults streamed from within. It still kinda scares me that Arcee really actually meant all of those threats…

Freefel walked over to me and dropped the butterfly net at my feet, stating resentfully, "You owe me big time for this one. I'm _still_ scared of her!"

I glanced past my sister, and my jaw dropped in horror. "Freefel…" I started, "You. Forgot! TO! LOCK IT!" Movieverse Arcee was already pushing her way out.

Then I raced out of the room, just as the mini-Autobot burst out of her prison. "YOU DARE LOCK ME UP?" she shrieked, and started chasing Freefel, shaking the plastic flame-sword and shouting that one day it would be 'fully operational'!

I'm so glad our parents were at the store and not home right then to witness Movieverse Arcee's murderous tirade.

"This is scary femme," ShortCircuit commented as I fled, with Freefel close behind. "Well you shouldn't have hissed at her!" I retorted.

Freefel looked at me funny, reminding me that I was the only one who could hear ShortCircuit speaking. "Talking to ShortCircuit!" I told my sister quickly as I turned a corner and hid in the bathroom.

I locked the door, and stuffed towels underneath it just in case.

Arcee started whacking the door with the flame-sword and got really mad when it didn't open. Then, there was this sudden, really ominous silence.

After a few seconds, I heard something go 'clang!' in the kitchen downstairs. A moment later, I heard Movieverse Arcee's voice from outside the door.

"I got a knife, human! And I don't care _what_ Optimus says in this matter; he's puny and only just arrived here anyway. I'm gonna hack away at this door until I get in! And then…" ...I shuddered.

I didn't want our door ruined, but I also didn't want to be mauled by little, scary Movieverse Arcee either. What a dilemma this was proving to be…

I perched on top of the sink's counter, then flung open the door, leaped over the chef knife-wielding femme, and bolted down the stairs and out the front door.

Freefel was already there, looking perfectly fine and un-rushed. She smiled at me, mentioning unconcernedly, "Glad ya survived."

I kicked her leg.

_Heh heh; I know it wasn't a very funny chapter, and not very long, but that's it for now. Hopefully I can upload another chapter soon, and you'll find out why Arcee is temporarily crazy and psychopathic. Next time!_


	20. Chapter 20

_Hello! Here's another chapter; I'm finally gonna tell you what in the universe made Movieverse Arcee go crazy for a bit. Hooray for answers! …Even if mine make even less sense than the questions!_

"…So!" I said after a few minutes, "It's good that out house has plenty of hiding places for the mini-Transformers, huh?" Freefel replied with a bored shrug.

We'd been outside in the front yard for a while, waiting for Movieverse Arcee's insanity to subside. We could still faintly hear some yelling inside, which wasn't very reassuring at all.

"Ok," I stated bluntly, "I am officially bored with hiding from the maniac. Anyone have a mildly interesting conversation topic?" Freefel scowled.

"Aaaalllrighty, then," I said, "ShortCircuit, can you tell us about how big Transformers, like you, and mini-Transformers, like our friends inside, are supposed to interact? Besides hissing, like you did?"

(_'Autobot-Bre', I've added the following explanation because of your review; I realized that I needed to explain that part. Thanks for the suggestion!_)

"Eh," she muttered with a mental shrug of indifference, "Small ones, like ones in house, is scouts. Them is finding out things of humans: news of Cybertronian-sightings by humans, safe places of hiding if danger, new 'TV series' for maybe new plans, so on."

"Really?" I asked, 9surprised that real-life TFs actually used TV series' ideas for their plans), and was answered by Freefel's interruption of, "What 'Really'? What's going on?" So I translated ShortCircuit's explanation for her.

"Huh," Freefel muttered in surprise, "Sooo… the 'toy' Transformers are spies? Living in Transformer-fans' homes? Cool."

"Yeah, but not for long if Movieverse Arcee keeps freaking out inside," I told her, "Let's go help already!" So we decided to venture forth and defeat the Purple Menace.

ShortCircuit and I hadn't learned exactly how to fly yet, so we had to scramble onto the roof with Freefel by climbing on top of a stone fountain behind the house and boosting ourselves up. Being rather clumsy, I fell off the fountain and bruised my foot.

Afterwards, ShortCircuit used a spike on her pointy head to undue the latch for the screen on our bedroom window, which I usually left unlocked. Then we just slipped inside. And crashed to the floor of course. Great.

Anyway, inside our room, Freefel and I discovered a few Transformers who'd taken refuge from Movieverse Arcee's wrath. It was G1 Sunstreaker, War-For-Cybertron Bumblebee, and little G1 Starscream.

Apparently, Sunstreaker had enlisted the other two in helping with a prank of his: making Movieverse Arcee go temporarily crazy! **He'd** been the cause of all this!

Sunstreaker had convinced little G1 Starscream and WFC Bee to give the femme the mini-TF equivalent to sugar (and coffee and alcohol, all at once)! Little Starscream told me this the instant I got inside. Not exceedingly loyal of him to the instigator/accomplice, Sunstreaker, but honest. So, we came up with a plan.

Starscream (_whose box had LIED in saying his courage-level was only 5!_) was the bait. He flew past Movieverse Arcee, causing her to chase him, shrieking. Then, it was easy for Freefel and I to surprise the femme by trapping her in Zorra's fold-up playpen-gate-thing, complete with metal bars.

We covered the top with mesh-netting, preventing Movieverse Arcee from climbing her way out. Then we had to go tell all of the other mini-TFs that they were now safe! And we all finally went outside just to get away from Movieverse Arcee's shouting.

_I shall tell you not of what exactly it was they'd given her, for fear that you readers would be overwhelmed by the force of curiosity, and it would lead you to try it out, resulting in many horrible things. And I do not want to be responsible for that._


	21. Chapter 21

_Hallooo! Thank you all so much for the nice comments! I appreciate them all so much! And I love the funny ones you awesome people left, so thanks again!_

I'd wanted to try out ShortCircuit's wings for a while, but hadn't had enough time to. But now, with our parents away at a store, I finally could!

I decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to finally do so. I couldn't wait to fly!

"Hey, ShortCircuit?" I asked out loud, so Freefel and the mini-TFs could know what I was planning, "How do I move your wings?"

"Feel," she stated simply, "Feel and move like arm or leg move and it move." That, I could do. Being insane and having always wanted to fly, I'd tried many times to imagine how wings would feel. And now, I put it to good use.

I imagined ShortCircuit's wings as part of myself, which they sort of were anyway. Then I moved one. It was so easy!

It was as easy as picking something up in my hand, or taking a step forward. It felt completely natural! (_If having an alien robot pair of wings connected to the nerve-endings in one's spinal column could possibly feel natural, that is._)

I moved both wings a little, trying to stretch them out a bit. That's when I realized that there was a problem. My shirt stopped ShortCircuit's wings from fully extending.

'Hmm,' I thought, then relayed my realization to ShortCircuit mentally.

"Cut shirt," she replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. I reluctantly consented; it was an old shirt anyway.

And it already had a few cuts and some blood on it from when I'd jumped over Movieverse Arcee and her chef-knife. (_Yes; I wiped my leg-blood on my shirt. Oh well! I'm not a neat freak. At all._)

So, I asked Freefel to go back inside the house to get a pair of scissors. She did so, and came back outside with them a moment later, reporting, "I think Arcee's calming down. She only threatened once to kill me in my sleep. Progress!"

I sighed wearily, then showed my sister where to begin cutting the back of my shirt. Soon, I had two long slits cut in the fabric, from my shoulder blades to lower spine.

I gave ShortCircuit's wings an experimental twitch, then slowly unfurled them…

Oh! Oh, they were stunning! They looked like silvery blue-jay wings, but larger than an eagle's: 14 feet across from tip to tip!

Although both wings were almost 7 feet long, they didn't feel nearly as heavy or awkward as I had expected. They felt strong and powerful and graceful.

Metallic feathers gleamed with white and blue-gray highlights in the sun, sharp and beautiful. The light glinted off the shining, ruffled surfaces like diamonds, like waves, like a row of polished swords.

'ShortCircuit,' I whisper-thought in awe, 'They're amazing.' I felt a flash of pride and joyful surprise from the Decepticon femme as she replied, "Thank you."

I glanced at Freefel and the mini-TFs, who were gaping in astonishment, and I laughed in sheer joy and exultation. This was incredible!

I stepped forward into the warm sunlight, wings outstretched in eagerness, and announced, "Let's fly!"

_YAY! Alright, maybe that last bit was a little cheesy, but still! I get to fly! Wheeee!_


	22. Chapter 22

_"WANTED: people who cut down beautiful trees for no reason FOR: cutting down trees for no reason REWARD: nothing, since I don't know who any of you readers are or where you live, so I can't give you anything, but if I could then it'd be lovely purple flowers." Yeah, I just felt like doing that. On with the story!_

It took a while for me to get it right. I mean, just trying to get off the ground? A lot harder than I'd expected!

It isn't just flap-your-wings-really-hard-and-you'll-start-flying. No. It was much more than that, much more complicated.

ShortCircuit and I had to learn how to tilt her-my-our- wings, how to capture the air beneath them, how to flap just right to get even an inch off the ground. Since ShortCircuit'd never flown before, and I obviously hadn't, we had to self-teach ourselves.

So, after Freefel and most of the mini-Transformers had gotten bored and gone inside, we rested on the cold grass, trying to figure out what to do.

ShortCircuit and I watched some sparrows flying past, and we tried to imitate how they took off, leaning forwards a bit. The more we watched, the more we learned; where to center our weight, how to position our wings, when to leap up into the air, etc.

I tried running before flapping our wings, and that helped a little. We actually got a foot and a half off the ground that time! And when I jumped off a tree branch, we managed to almost hover in the air for a second!

Then Silverbolt (purple winged wolf) and Airazor (blue peregrine falcon) decided to help out, since they were the only mini-Transformers we had with wings (_smallish wings that I'd put cardboard-and-plastic extensions on, but still_).

They'd had a lot more practice than ShortCircuit and I, so they were a bit haughty about giving us advice. ShortCircuit got irritated at their arrogance and hissed at them after a couple minutes.

And when Airazor started doing fancy flying tricks and Silverbolt called ShortCircuit and I 'novices,' **I** nearly hissed at him, too.

Several times, between all the running and jumping and flapping, we **were** able to get over a foot off the ground for a few seconds. And it took all my meager reserves of self-control not to yell smugly at our 'coaches,' "HA!"

It was very tempting though. Very tempting.

By the time our parents got home, I was laying on the cold grass with our wings outstretched, exhausted. At the sound of the car, I pulled our wings back in, and raced inside to warn Freefel and the mini-TFs.

When I got inside, I got a great surprise; Freefel and the others had cleaned up the whole house, except for Zorra's big, metal-barred playpen, which still imprisoned Movieverse Arcee.

The femme was actually too tired to even insult ShortCircuit or me as I carried her upstairs to the mini-TFs' box.

Freefel managed to stall our parents long enough for me to put away the metal-barred playpen and round up the other mini-TFs. I planned to reward them all with a flight-ride if I ever learned how to fly.

_Sorry it wasn't very exciting. The next chapter should be a little more eventful though, I promise. By the way, thank you all so much for the great reviews!_


	23. Chapter 23

_Hi! I haven't updated in a bit; sorry 'bout that. Here's a (hopefully) more interesting chapter than the last. And thanks for all the nice reviews!_

One day, I got another chance to practice flying. (I wonder if I'll ever get used to saying that!) The teachers at school had decided to have mercy on us, and had assigned only a little bit of homework.

The insane part of me wanted to skip around, sing, and declare a semi-national holiday! My more logical and boring side (_which rarely ever makes an appearance_) warned of extra homework and tests to come.

Man, logic is just no fun sometimes. Ah, who am I kidding? Logic ain't fun almost all the time! Bad grammar is fun though. (_Oh wait. I'm going off on a random tangent again. Back to the story!_)

Anyway, I hardly minded ShortCircuit's speaking-issues anymore; it wasn't her fault that she couldn't speak English perfectly. The only times I ever minded was when she'd talk to me like that during English class, which was a bit distracting.

ShortCircuit didn't speak out loud to me during school very much anymore, because she'd have to have her head in headphone-mode to do so.

And it looked weird for me to be supposedly wearing pointy silver headphones near the back of my head, so we mostly spoke to one another mentally.

Anyway, after school, we practiced flying a bit more. We'd progressed from running around and flapping, to me holding onto the low roof of my family's shed. Then we'd flap our wings and I'd let go of the roof.

Since the ground was barely two feet beneath my dangling toes, this resulted in very few minor injuries. It was also great practice for hovering in the air.

So one day, I decided to climb a tall pine tree. Not for flying practice, but mostly for fun. Pine trees are some of the best trees for climbing, because they have so many branches to grab onto.

Well, I climbed up a bit farther than usual, even with ShortCircuit weighing me down a little. I'd gotten used to her weight, which was surprisingly only about 40 pounds.

ShortCircuit was small and delicate like a bird, which accounted for her relative lightness, in spite of the fact that she was made of metal. Actually, her wing-mode was based off of a turkey vulture, rather than a more fragile robin or sparrow.

I realized how far I'd climbed up the tree and, not liking heights very much, (_which is weird, considering I've always wanted to fly_) I decided to climb back down.

Except that the wind was blowing. Hard.

The bendy tree'd started swaying in the wind, be-e-e-n-n-ding one way, and be-e-e-n-n-ding the other way, making it impossible to not think of falling. ShortCircuit suggested holding our wings out for balance. Being scared, and therefore thinking even less clearly than usual, I agreed.

I'd taken to wearing my beaten-up, wing-slitted shirt under my regular shirt, so I could extend our wings whenever needed. I did so then, and they caught the wind like sails. Unfurled wings+ up in a tree+ strong wind= Eek-I'm-being-blown-out-of-the-tree!

But, having gotten accustomed to using our wings in practice-hovering, we managed to stay upright! And, instead of falling to our doom, or being blown into another tree, ShortCircuit and I flapped back to the ground in a most undignified manner.

Both screaming (_I covered my mouth so no neighbors heard_). But we flew!

_And, there you has it, peoples. We flew! _


	24. Chapter 24

_Hello! (Speaking of 'Hello,' anybody know where to find the official music video for that Evanescence song? Just a random side note.) And now, on with the story!_

That night, after ShortCircuit and I flew, my dad once more demonstrated another example of his eternal and unfailing awesomeness. He bought, for Freefel and I, four new Transformer-toys! Well, mini-Transformers in actuality, but he didn't know that.

They were: Movieverse Optimus Prime (_the one with gold flames_), Movieverse Ironhide, Movieverse Skyhammer, and Movieverse Sideswipe!

Ohhh, the other Autobots were so happy to see even more new friends! And only a couple days after getting the other four! (_See chapters 16 and 17 for those four._)

Ironhide really, really wished that his spinning-cannon was completely functional. I assured him that it was already really cool, and showed him how to burn dead leaves with a magnifying glass. That cheered him up, since we both share a love of all things explode-y. Or explosive, take your pick.

Having the two Optimuses, mini-G1 and normal-sized-Movieverse (_I don't know what the plural form of an Optimus is; can anyone tell me?_) was a bit awkward, since they're both Optimus, and therefore, both leaders. Problem.

The matter was resolved when G1 Optimus (_who'd been here longer and was thereby the senior leader at our house_) agreed to be leader of the smallest mini-TFs, and he let Movieverse Optimus be leader of the bigger mini-TFs. Other than that, they were equal leaders, and all was good.

Sunstreaker was overjoyed to see his twin, even though they were from different TF-universes, transformed into different vehicles, and looked nothing alike. They were most certainly twins in personality though.

The car-hood for Sideswipe's vehicle-mode kept falling off while I transformed him, and he let me think that it was my fault and that I'd broken him. Yup, definitely the little yellow prankster's twin.

Skyhammer was, as his box said, very advisor-ish. He was kinda like our G1 Prowl, but a bit more in-charge, like a leaderly chaperone to the others.

The only reason our mini Decepticons hadn't gotten miffed at having more Autobots to deal with, was the fact that they were too busy talking with ShortCircuit. To do this, the mini-TFs had to sit on my shoulders, or the back of my neck, (_or sometimes even on top of my head!_) with ShortCircuit in her headphone-mode.

This was because ShortCircuit's vocal-systems had never fully developed, and her voice was incredibly quiet. In headphone-mode, she was able to channel her voice through her headphone speakers and increase her speech-volume to be heard a little bit more easily.

For example, if she yelled while her head was in robot-mode, it'd sound like a really faint whisper. If she talks next to your ear in headphone-mode, it'd sound like sort-of-quiet speaking.

Anyway, several of the mini Decepticons would perch on my shoulders, neck, or head, to converse with ShortCircuit and catch up on what was going on with the other real-life 'Cons. They talked in Cybertronian of course, so I couldn't understand 'em.

They also did this the next day, while I was doing homework. It's a bit distracting to have mini-Decepticons chatting away with a Decepticon who's attached to one's brain and back-nerves. Anyway, I convinced them to take a break, and then decided to go outside.

I needed some fresh air, and I wondered if ShortCircuit might too. She was acting a bit distracted that afternoon.

As I closed the front door, I noticed something in our driveway. Curious, I turned to look.

And gasped in shock.

_OOH! OOH! What is it? You'll have to wait and see. Heh heh._


	25. Chapter 25

_OK! Sorry for not updating sooner. I had my "Caterwaul" story to update, chapters to write, and a giant homework-of-despair-monster to battle and defeat and triumphantly stand over in a dramatic pose! Thanks for the nice reviews, especially Bumblebeecamaro38, Autobot-Bre, and TransFreak101._

I stared ahead at the driveway, my mind racing. Wanna know what the two parts of my brain were thinking? 'This isn't possible, this isn't possible, this isn't possible…' and 'Shut **up**, Logic! This is **totally** possible!'

I just stood there, frozen with shock, and mentally asked, "ShortCircuit? Is it… possible for Transformers to come **out of a movie**?"

"NO!" She replied in a voice that would've been sarcastic, had she not sounded so ecstatic, "Little I know of Cybertronians on earth, but us is not from 'movies.' I know movies is from humans seeing us! Humans did see Cybertronians mush time ago, and did say to other humans, 'Tell others! Be famous for finding aliens!' Stupids. Other humans think them is crazy, but say 'Is good idea for show or movie!' And shows and movies is made."

'Oh,' I whisper-thought. That was quite a speech by ShortCircuit-standards, since she was usually very quiet, 'Can Transformers sense others' energy-signatures?'

"YES!" ShortCircuit replied eagerly, "And is you seeing what I is sensing?" She transformed her head to robot-head-mode, stuck it out the back of my shirt collar, made a joyful whistling sound of exultation, and transformed her head back.

'Apparently,' I answered, 'At least… I think so.' Again my mind was battling itself; Logic was whimpering pathetically, 'It's just an ordinary vehicle. Nothing special. Don't be silly!' Insanity was shrieking, 'It's real! Go look for the insignia and twisted slogan!' I stepped closer.

Parked there… in the driveway… at my home… was… **a police car**.

I stepped hesitantly closer, shifting between hysterical fangirl-ish glee, fear for my life, and the faint-yet-horrific possibility that it was just a normal police car.

My heart skipped a couple beats and flip-flopped around inside when I didn't find the "to punish and enslave" slogan. Was ShortCircuit wrong? Could she have been mista-

"NO!" she practically screeched in my ears and brain. Well ok then.

Well, if ShortrCircuit was totally sure this police car was a Decepticon, I trusted her judgment. She was a little bit more sane than me. I stepped closer to the vehicle.

"B-Barricade?" I forced myself to ask. The police car spun and lurched towards me in an instant and the door flew open.

I yelped and fell backwards, scrambling away as a blur of silver and black leapt out at me. "AAA!" I shrieked, "Don't kill me! No! Bad Frenzy! Bad!" (_What, he's a dog now? No. Then why are you talking to him as if he's a dog? Shut up, Subconscious! No._)

Frenzy (_as I guessed he was, from watching the movie_) glared at me and spoke in a hissing sort of gibberish, flailing his arms around and stalking forward. Was he talking to ShortCircuit? Said femme mentally answered an affirmative.

"I don't speak Cybertronian!" I yelped and I scooted back on my hands and feet some more. Frenzy made a hissy noise and threw something at me, so I flung up my left arm instinctively and ducked.

A sharp piece of metal grazed my lower arm, and I cried out, "Don't throw ninja stars! That's rude and I'm a friendly person!"

What in the universe had I gotten myself into?

_There ya go. Hope ya all liked it! And Autobot-Bre, I hope the updating of this chapter has caused you to not die of suspense. Hooray!_


	26. Chapter 26

_Hi again! Thank you, EVERYBODY for such great reviews, I appreciate it sooooo much! And sorry for not updating sooner. I had to continue my battle with the evil homework-monster. And I won!_

In desperation, I suddenly unfurled ShortCircuit's wings (_I have to keep calling our wings that, even though ShortCircuit is the pair of wings. It sounds too weird otherwise._). I was hoping that the unexpected action would startle Frenzy away.

Well, he was surprised all right! The little Decepticon froze for a second and stared at our wings, his claw-hands twitching slightly. I'm no expert on robotic facial expression (_yet_) but I'm pretty sure Frenzy looked confused.

At that moment, ShortCircuit stuck her head out the back of my shirt collar and many joyful trilling noises. (_Although unable to speak at normal volume with her head in robot-form, she manages to make quiet-ish sounds._)

In her excitement, ShortCircuit accidentally did something to the wires in my back-nerves, making my arms stiffen involuntarily. (_I always found that to be an uncomfortable ability of hers, being able to twitch my arms when excited, but I suppose that it was only fair, since I had control of her wings most of the time._)

In surprise, I gasped, "Ah! Don't do that ShortCircuit." My words apparently made Frenzy even more confused, because he cocked his head a bit and looked rather befuddled, though it was still hard for me to tell.

Frenzy started up his strange clickitty, chittering speaking again, which must have been Cybertronian. ShortCircuit tried to respond, but of course, couldn't speak loudly enough. So she made happy-sounding clicking and chirping noises.

I sighed at the fact that I had no clue what was going on, "OK, look. Frenzy? I'm really grateful you and Barricade haven't killed me. Really grateful. But, uh… we're all kinda noticeable out here in the open. In my front yard." A pause. No response.

I rubbed my head in exasperation (_yes, exasperation at a small robotic alien I just met. That's just the sort of weird, crazy person I is!_), "**Please** tell me you understand English, Frenzy." He rolled his optics in obvious contempt and scorn for all human life, and then nodded.

"Ok, great. Thank you," I told him, "So could we talk someplace where the entire neighborhood won't be able to see us?" I retracted our wings to emphasize my point, but this seemed to cause Frenzy agitation for some reason. He apparently with me agreed about hiding, though.

I'd been thinking of the back yard, or the woods behind out house as a good place to hide and talk. Heh heh heh- **NO**! Frenzy instead pointed to… Barricade.

I shook my head; noooo thanks, I'd rather not sit inside of a large and dangerous Decepticon and be surrounded by Decepticons with no way to escape! I'd prefer to continue living, thank you very much!

Frenzy narrowed his optics and growled in obvious irritation, and Barricade echoed it by aggressively revving his engine and lurching towards me.

"Eep!" I yelped, and curled up into a ball with my arms over the top of my head and my knees in front of my otherwise-vulnerable throat and vital organs. There was a noise like contemptuous snickering, and then something hit just above my left eye.

"Ouch!" I cried out in pain, and held one hand up to the stinging cut. Great; I had forgotten to protect my face earlier, so Frenzy had kicked my eye with his pointy foot. How rude.

"In the movie, you get your head cut off," I muttered under my breath. This muted statement/insult at Frenzy alarmed ShortCircuit, and she hissed at me, making angry clicking and snapping sounds.

I moaned in frustration, every word punctuated with me hitting my head on the ground, "I. Can't. Under. Stand. What! You're! Saying!"

ShortCircuit transformed her head back to robot-mode and hissed in my ears, "Frenzy me sibling!"


	27. Chapter 27

_Hello again! In response to the latest reviews… To everyone: Thanks for all the compliments and funniness!_ Autobot-Ratchet: Thanks for the compliment and the advice on author's notes, but I just can't help adding 'em in. JazzGirl221: Yes, Ratchet and the other Autobots DO come into the story, but not for several more chapters. Autobot-Bre: Thanks and yep, the two are siblings. Hope you all like this chapter!

"WHAT?" I exclaimed in shock, startling everything within a 50-foot radius. Frenzy jumped back, looking at me as if I was crazy (_which I know I am_).

I groaned and sat up on my knees, telling the relatively little Decepticon, "Sorry about yelling. Nice to know you're ShortCircuit's brother. That's great." He stared at me in surprise.

"I think we should go talk in the backyard where nobody can see you and Barricade," I continued, "No offense, but I don't want to go sit in Barricade's vehicle-mode, because I know that I'd never come back out alive or with all my limbs intact."

Frenzy looked at me, well, not with admiration, more like surprise that not all humans were as stupid and brain-dead as he had thought. He started speaking again, this time in partial English.

"Tried... *_gibberish_* find ShortCircuit... *_gibberish_* leave... *_gibberish_* we find... *_gibberish_* now come... *_gibberish_* us." I figured that the gibberish must have been Cybertronian.

"Ummm…" I guessed, "You were trying to find ShortCircuit, and now that you've found her, you want her to come with you?" Frenzy nodded impatiently, apparently thinking that maybe humans really were all slow-witted.

"Alrighty, then," I added, "ShortCircuit's welcome to go if she wants." She answered mentally with an affirmative, and then began to detach all her pointy little nerve-wires from my back.

"Aaa!" I cried out as the first wires started to come out, feeling like barbed needles mixed with porcupine quills, "Ow, oww, OW!" ShortCircuit let out pained cries too, since she could still feel, via her wires in my brain, what I was feeling.

She tried disconnecting the wires faster and, while I couldn't feel small portions of our wings anymore, the wires coming out were agonizing, and I curled up in pain. Now it felt like super-strong band-aids that'd been on for days and then ripped off, accompanied by more barbed-needle stings.

ShortCircuit yelped at our shared pain, and I tried to make it easier. "Disconnect- **aack!**- the nerve- **rrgh!**- wires in my-**mmf!**- head! She tried to, but that only hurt worse. I glanced up to see that Barricade had driven closer, and that Frenzy was only a foot away.

Trying not to whimper, I ground out, "This… must be… very amusing… to you two." Barricade remained silent, but Frenzy cocked his head and frowned at the obvious pain that ShortCircuit was in. So maybe the little guy did have the capacity for sympathy.

Finally, ShortCircuit gave up. She'd been able to disconnect fewer than a quarter of the wires, and leaving them out like that was uncomfortable, and made her partially slide off my back, putting more strain on the remaining wires.

I breathed a sigh of relief as the pain eased, and was then replaced with a slightly more bearable pain. ShortCircuit reinserting her nerve-wires sort of itched/tickled, like when a limb falls asleep and then goes all pins-and-needles.

The needle-prick-feeling went away after a couple seconds, and I could feel our wings again as ShortCircuit announced, "I no can get off without much bad hurting. Say to Frenzy this."

So I moaned, sat up, and explained to Frenzy and Barricade, "ShortCircuit has lots of wires stuck in my back-nerves. She can't disconnect them without hurting us both really badly."

I felt something sliding down my lower back and thought it was a bug, so I brushed it away. Except that when I looked at my hand, it had a wet red smear on it.

Oh yay. All that wire-extracting and wire-reinserting had made me leak back-blood all over my shirt. Again. (_The first time had been when I first met ShortCircuit._) But this time there was more, which wasn't very comforting.

Frenzy said something along the lines of, ""So that's why you were in pain even though we haven't done anything to you yet."

_Didja' catch that last part? 'Yet'?_


	28. Chapter 28

_"SSSSUUUMMMMMMEEERRRRRRRRRRR! SUMMER SUMMER SUMMER! VACATION! HAHAHA! NO HOMEWORK! FREEDOM! YES! YAHOOOO!" (*FireFlare/Freefel gets annoyed and gives me a sudden NCIS-Gibbs-head-slap*) Sorry 'bout that._

I eventually managed to convince Frenzy to hide between my grandparents' two cars in the driveway. Barricade drove up behind, which efficiently trapped me. A car in front of me, a car behind me, and a hostile Decepticon on either side. Lucky me.

"Ok," I stated, "So… Waddaya want?" Frenzy chittered in response, "ShortCircuit." Said femme bobbed her head in a gesture that clearly meant 'I'm right here!' and I spread out our wings for emphasis.

Frenzy nodded and continued, "We wanting is ShortCircuit to be now coming us with." He talked funny. But sounded cool.

"Uh, where?" I asked cautiously, and Frenzy scoffed and looked away in a superior manner. I rolled my eyes and said sarcastically, "Riiight, secret. Got it."

"You do not need to know where," rumbled Barricade, and I jumped in surprise; that was the first time I'd heard him speak!

Frenzy snickered at me, and I resisted the urge to slap him. It'd probably hurt my hand anyway. ShortCircuit hissed at me for even thinking of such a heinous crime as harming her sibling with my flimsy little human-hand.

Just then, I heard Freefel come out the back door and call, "Seekjei? Where are you?" On instinct, I almost called back to her, but clamped my hand over my mouth just in time.

"Seekjei!" Freefel continued calling, "Our Mom's almost home from work! She just called on the phone!" (Our mom does that a lot.)

"Ah!" I gasped, "Oh no, if my mom sees you guys…! C'mon, please go hide behind our house in the woods or something? Then I'll tell you whatever you want."

Frenzy glowered at me, incensed that a human dare tell him what to do. I considered hiding under one of the cars.

Finally, Barricade growled, "You will go with us there as well, and tell us everything we want to know. If this is a trick, you will not even have time to beg our forgiveness. And no human will ever discover your remains."

I nodded, relieved but a little indignant. What could one little brain-damaged human girl do to a giant Decepticon? Hit 'im with a stick? I don't think so!

Anyway, I shoved a ton of rocks into a thin irrigation ditch (_which my family had dug a while ago to drain out extra rainwater_) so that Barricade could easily drive across without his tires getting stuck. I saw Frenzy suspiciously poking the rocks as I led the two 'Cons to the back yard.

Then I led the way toward a clump of pine trees that bordered the woods in our back yard, which would provide excellent concealment for the Decepticons.

"Almost there," I said.

'Please don't kill me,' I thought.

Just as we passed the Wisteria tree near my grandparents' apartment, I heard a loud gasp from the back door. I spun around in time to realize that Freefel was there.

And that she had seen us!

_"Iiiiiiiit is Summer Vacatioooooonnnn! Thiiiiiiss is so marveloooooouusssss! Iiii- Oh wait, there's a crisis in the story. …*shrugs* Oh well. Iiiiiiiiit is Summmmmerrrrrrr!" (*FireFlare/Freefel rolls her eyes, considers slapping me, reconsiders, then starts singing along with me.*) "Suuuuummmmmmer Vacation is heeeeeeeerrrre!"_


	29. Chapter 29

_Greetings, all! It does be a week since the start of SUMMMERRRRR! To commemorate this awesomeness, here's a chapter! Hooray!_

I frantically tried to motion at Freefel to go back inside, but it was too late! She had frozen in shock, and the presence of another human apparently annoyed Frenzy. He leapt toward her, hissing like a cat.

"Duck!" I yelled at Freefel, and she did, just in time for one of Frenzy's ninja-stars to miss her head. Frenzy turned to glare at me and I begged him, "Please don't hurt my sister!"

The silver-and-black little Decepticon snarled at me, then snagged Freefel's arm in one hand, and yanked her over toward us. Freefel's initial surprise had worn off and she gave a little shout, trying to pull away.

I tried to run to her, but Barricade blocked my way, ordering me to keep leading the way to the woods.

"Please just don't hurt my sister," I pleaded, and backed up a little.

Freefel whimpered, and then her expression hardened as she demanded, "What's going on?" Frenzy growled at her, "Human, you up now shut!" Freefel stared at him blankly and the little 'Con muttered, "Stupid prisoner."

Freefel growled at him, causing Frenzy to dig his claws into her hand, causing Freefel to yelp, causing me to snarl at Frenzy, causing Barricade to get mad at me, causing me to squeak in alarm, causing ShortCircuit to sigh in exasperation.

'I can't believe I've let Freefel get captured by these Decepticons!' I thought, 'I am officially the worst big sister ever!' ShortCircuit hissed a sigh. She seemed very unhappy, but whether it was about the hostile exchange or Freefel, I wasn't sure.

All five of us finally reached the woods, where the multitude of leafless trees would offer concealment. I sat down by the edge of a large hole that Freefel and I had started digging years ago. (_For what purpose, Iiii forget._)

In any case, Frenzy apparently thought that it'd make a good temporary prison, because he shoved Freefel into it. She let out a pained gasp, and I leaned down to give her a comforting hug.

"It's OK," I murmured to her, "Just pretend you're Sam Witwicky." "I don't wanna be Sam," she whispered. "OK," I whispered back, "Then pretend you're Mikaela." After a second, Freefel nodded, pleased.

I sat up and glared levelly at Barricade, then asked, "What is it that you want, exactly?" Frenzy answered immediately, "Us it that exactly what wanting ShortCircuit is!" I just blinked at him.

Barricade explained in clearer words, "We want ShortCircuit. Since Megatron ordered her to come to this planet," –I saw Frenzy cringe slightly, and I wondered why- "the femme is a necessary piece of our war. So, she must return with us."

I mentally felt ShortCircuit kind of deflate at the idea that she was merely a pawn to be used in a war. I felt really bad for her; she was almost like another sister to me, and I didn't want her to go off to fight and die.

Barricade continued, "The femme, ShortCircuit, has been assigned by Megatron to be partnered with and work with another Decepticon."

"Who?" I asked dully, and Barricade replied calmly, "Starscream."


	30. Chapter 30

_HI! Thanks for all your great reviews! To_ Bumblebeecamaro38: **Wow**, that's a lot of great reviews! Thanks! To Autobot-Bre: Umm… Thanks? 'Cause I dunno what your review means, sorry. To CureAnimalLover: Hahaha, very nice and funny review, good job. And now, I shall commence with the typing of this story and you may all commence readin' it. Thanks to all of yee, peoples!

At Barricade's words, my mind filled with memories of all the Transformers series' Starscreams that I'd seen. This character must be one of the most varied- and at the same time constant- characters in the Transformer world.

The Starscream character was a cruel, selfish murderer in Transformers Prime, and a brave, self-sacrificing hero in Transformers Armada. Sooo… WHAT WAS THE REAL ONE GONNA BE LIKE?

ShortCircuit heard what I was thinking, and was surprised at how many Transformers series there were. (_And a bit scornful that we humans call them 'Transformers', since transforming is natural to them. Well, breathing is natural to humans, but Cybertronians don't call us 'breathers,' do they?_)

ShortCircuit was also a bit nervous at what she would have to deal with, being now partnered with Starscream, one of the most infamous Decepticons ever.

Apparently, she'd heard that the real one was, from Megatron's perspective at least, irresponsible and very sneaky. **Why** Megatron still let 'im live was anyone's guess, but it most likely because Starscream was incredibly good at escaping and hiding.

'Don't worry,' I thought to ShortCircuit, 'Whatever happens, I'm gonna be there with you! You're kinda like another sister to me, after all.' While ShortCircuit was happily surprised at the 'sister' bit, I was starting to realize that I **would** be with her for quite a while!

If removing her needle wires was so excruciating to us both, maybe she would never be able to come off! I mean, I was fine with her company, but it'd be like having your friend or sibling glued to your arm forever. *_Shudders_*

ShortCircuit felt my thoughts and mentally smiled, "No worry. I have idea. Idea, so wires-off no hurt, but will take time." "Can't you tell him that?" I asked her out loud, and she replied, "No. Me voice is too quiet, and if try comlink this close, it be too loud and hurt audios."

I nodded and shrugged, which must've looked weird, since no one else could hear ShortCircuit, making it look as if I was talking to myself. (_Which I do sometimes do, but not usually out loud._)

I grinned at the alien police car and said, "Ok. ShortCircuit's got an idea for disconnecting her needle-wires without hurting either of us, but it's gonna take… how long?" –'A week, maybe,' she answered- "About a week. I dunno what her idea is yet." Frenzy perked up at the mention of an actual plan, but didn't look entirely convinced.

"Anyway it being why hurt would painful you?" he asked in garbled English, and stalked closer, reaching out his claws, apparently wanting to examine the needle-wires for himself. It startled Freefel, who must've thought it was an attack.

My sister leaped out of her 'prison' (_a big, 2-foot deep hole we'd dug years ago for some long-forgotten purpose_) and scrambled up the nearest pine tree. Frenzy yelled something angrily in Cybertronian and charged after her.

Well, not to malign Frenzy's reputation, but he wasn't very good at climbing trees. Freefel was already 10 feet up in the tree when the little robot stepped on a thin branch –a stick, really- and fell about 4 feet.

I winced as he landed with a small crash, then rushed over to help, though Barricade lurched forward aggressively. Freefel was up in the tree above, poised to hurl a pinecone at anyone who tried to hurt me. Frenzy certainly wasn't about to; he was moaning, optics shut, he was clutching his head, and his feet were twitching.

I gently nudged the side of his head with one hand, seeing no dents or anything noticeably damaged, except maybe his pride and the shininess of his armor.

See, near my family's house, the ground has reddish shale-rock in it, so it's pretty hard. I could understand how that'd hurt Frenzy's small-ish head when he fell, poor guy.

"You ok?" I asked, and the Decepticon blinked confusedly, then nodded, shuffled away, and stood up.

I think I made a new friend!

_Yay!_


	31. Chapter 31

_Greetings all readers of awesomeness! I woulda updated sooner, but something was wrong with the computer. Thanks for all yer great reviews! To Knockout'sFanGirl: Thanks! I really appreciate it! To Autobot-Bre: zyou are most certainly NOT a fool! I just didn't know what you'd typed. Thank you! To a Guest: Thanks so much! And I wish Fanfiction would let puople type in their own unofficial username thingies! To CureAnimeLover: Umm, ok?I dunno what you're speaking of, but it appears amusing. Since there be nothing more for me to now tell you all of, ON WITH THIS CHAPPY-TER! "Chappy-ter" is such a fun way to say "chapter," don'cha think?_

Eventually, I coaxed Freefel down from the pine tree, which she was clinging to like a cat. I also, through a long and boring speech, that ShortCircuit couldn't fly without me to help her, and that we hadn't officially learned how to really fly yet.

Frenzy still wasn't convinced about the whole needle-wires-thing, so I had to show him. I pulled up the back of my shirt, showing ShortCircuit in the shape of mechanical wings, the wire-thingies, scratches, and some blood.

The little Decepticon seemed satisfied, and also a bit surprised at how awful my back now looked, scarred and partially coated with dried blood. (_I picked some of it off and it was SHINY!_)

"Ah, don't worry," I assured Frenzy, "It looks a lot worse than it actually is. It's just blood. Your ninja-stars of death hurt a lot more." This apparently pleased him; not that my back was ok, but that his weapons were painful. How encouraging.

ShortCicuit persuaded her fellow 'Cons (via me telling 'em what she said) to wait a few days until we could fly and her wire-removal plan was completed.

The plan involved keeping permanently attached wires on my nerves and muscles. The permanent-wires would be able to detach painlessly from ShortCircuit's needle-wires (and re-attach) whenever necessary. WOOHOO! I still felt like a human guinea pig.

Since the process- and learning how to fly- would take some time, Barricade and Frenzy agreed to come back later, within several days. Before they left though, Frenzy skittered over to tell ShortCircuit something.

She cocked her head to the side in curiosity and listened. I had no clue what in the universe Frenzy told her, 'cause it was in Cybertronian. Or at least it sounded like Cybertronian.

Whatever it was that Frenzy said, it apparently upset ShortCircuit a lot, because she let out a mournful sighing noise, and her head drooped. Frenzy nodded unhappily, and slunk back to Barricade.

My mom was home and had just gone inside the house at this time, so she didn't see the two 'Cons driving away. As in, there were two 'Cons, and one was driving, and one was the passenger. Whatever. (_It's a difficult sentence to word-ify._)

Anyway, Freefel and I took the rocks out of the irrigation ditch, put them back in a pile, and then went back inside our house. We said 'Hi' to our mom, went directly up to the room where our mini-Transformers were, and told them everything.

Naturally, the mini Autobots were all very unhappy and worried about it, and the mini Decepticons were delighted and ecstatic. I was a bit tired from all that'd happened, so I went downstairs to our room so I could rest.

ShortCircuit glumly started work on the permanent-wires, not saying anything. I could feel waves of misery coming from her, and finally asked what was wrong. (_I hadn't been able to ask her any earlier, since there were the 'Cons, Freefel, and our mini-TFs who coulda overheard._)

ShortCircuit flinched, as if startled, and tried to cover it up by snapping, "I is fine!" 'No you aren't,' I replied worriedly, 'Please tell me what's wrong! Maybe I can help.' "Human no can help!" she retorted bitterly.

"Wow, thanks, I feel so appreciated," I sarcastically informed her. Harsh, I know. And I felt bad for her, really I did, but I had to find some way to get her to speak of whatever thing it was that happened to be bugging her.

Finally, ShortCircuit dropped the I'm-fine-and-I-don't-want-pity-act, and told me.

"Is more Decepticons, 'defective' like me," she said, "And… Us is here to die."

_Well! I wasn't expectin' THAT! Were you?_


	32. Chapter 32

_Hi everyone! Thanks so much for giving my story all of these great reviews! Thanks also for the encouragement, tips, and funny-bits in your reviews. I really appreciate it! Now that the thank-yous are complete for this chapter, on with the story! This chapter might be kinda morbid, though._

I was so horrified at what ShortCircuit had said, that I couldn't say anything for a second. After a moment, I asked, feeling shocked, "W-what? Why?"

"Because…" ShortCircuit's voice was hard, "Because us is useless!" I winced at her fury, which radiated from her in chaotic bursts, like fire.

"Megatron," she snarled the name, "says us is useless! Us smaller, less-abilities-'Cons is too small to fight, too big to transform to smaller things, is not 'Programmed right.' Most is calling us malfunctions, glitches, defects, mistakes!"

I could feel ShortCircuit's mental agony, the bitterness that filled her so painfully. I felt a sort of wistful envy as she continued, "Frenzy is malfunction too, like me. But is no big major glitches; is just small and speech problems."

ShortCircuit went on, "I is full of many problems. Is small, no transform right, speaking-problem, very short-distance range for comlink and signal detection to work."

"Others is have different glitches," ShortCircuit explained, "Is no seeing, or hearing, or lacking abilities, or thinkings is not make sense."

"I'm sorry," I told her, "But that stuff happens with humans alot; I have two mental disorders myself! But that doesn't make a person inferior at all! So, why would you, and others who're similar to you, be here to… die?"

ShortCircuit continued venomously, "Megatron is saying us malfunctions is useless, no good for any use. So is sending to other planets to be left on own, or into battles to die there, be out of way then."

I was horrified; surely even the infamous Decepticon leader couldn't be that cruel, could he? That was genocide! Did the littler 'Cons have nowhere to hide?

I was struck by an idea (_Like in the 2nd chapter of this story. Oh my goodness; I just broke the 4th wall! …Oh well._) "How many um, 'defects' are on Earth?" I asked, "Maybe some could stay here, at my house!"

"Many," ShortCircuit replied regretfully, "Not all is here. Many is on other planets to die. Is wrong, is low, even for worst of Cybertronians to be doing this. Us 'malfunctions' is doing no wrong. Just existing."

"Can't any of you run away, or tell the Decepticons to stop, or something?" I asked, and ShortCircuit flinched as if in pain.

"Y-es," she answered brokenly, "One tried. Name was Lighter. Was strong, bright, look like have no glitches, but had mind-glitch. Was unfocused, not clear thinking, much distracted, and no control." I winced, because that pretty much describes me, too, except for the 'strong' part.

"Was kind, clever," ShortCircuit continued wistfully, "and brave. Protected other defects, if mistreated, when young sparkling. Had twin, Blindside. Was good friends."

Her voice hardened, "Megatron came. Said to came see how sparklings were growing, wanted them be soldiers. Megatron hurt malfunctions, Lighter tell him to stop. Megatron did hurt him, then hurt Blindside. Lighter hit Megatron, yelled to stop hurting, to leave twin alone."

ShortCircuit's voice cracked, "After… Megatron hurt Lighter bad, almost kill. Then, when little older, Lighter be sent to other planet by Megatron for 'helping fight war.' Lighter… in battle… Megatron lied, said own cannon blast was accident, mistake. Said… Said mistake got rid of Defect-mistake!"

_Like I said, very morbid; sorry! By the way, I really do actually have 2 disorders; ADHD and Asperger's. Anywho, I woulda updated a bit sooner, but my grandparents (who live in the same house as us) fiddled with something and the power went out in our house. Or was it Blackout who caused it? ! 0.O_


	33. Chapter 33

_Oh my goodness, thank you all SO MUCH! Those reviews you all sent are so amazing and great! I never knew just how many people had disorders like me! (*"It's a Small World" starts playing*) AAAAA! Please enjoy the chapter as I try to get this creepily cheerful song outta my head!_

That night, our dad surprised Freefel and I by getting us two new Transformers! They were… the normal-sized versions of Movieverse Elita-1 and sea-attack Ravage!

Freefel and I thanked our dad a lot, but my mind wasn't really focusing on that. I kept thinking about all the stuff that ShortCircuit had told me. I wished that there was something I could do to help her, but what could I do?

I couldn't change the past, or what Megatwit did, but at least I could try to help ShortCircuit not think about it. Getting the two new mini-TFs helped distract her a little bit, but not much. She stuck her head out the back of my shirt collar and hissed to scare the two, but I could tell that her heart/spark wasn't really in it.

She was a bit perkier when we introduced the new ones to our other TFs, though. The Autobots were thrilled to have another team member, and a femme at that! (_How's it pronounced? I like to say it "feh-mee."_)

The 'Cons were really excited to see the new (big) Ravage, and surprised, too. Why? Because with our new blue-silver-black sea-attack Ravage, we now had 4 RAVAGES! 2 black-and-silver little G1s, 1 small dark gray Movieverse, and 1 big colorful Movieverse!

This issue of doubles also highlighted the fact that we now had 2 different movieverse versions of Movieverse Elita-1 (the new big one with a wheel instead of legs, and a small orangey-brown one), 2 different TF-universe versions of Arcee (pink Animated and purple Movieverse), 2 different-universe Bumblebees (Movievere and WarForCybertron), and 2 different-universe Optimus Primes (very small mini G1 and gold-flamed Movieverse). Wow.

So, to solve this quandary (_what a funny word!_) we decided to change some names a bit. TFAnimated Arcee got her name slightly altered to Arcie, which we all pronounced "AR-see".

The faded-colors G1 Ravage (who was a female) got her name changed to "Ravee." Her darker-colored G1 brother was re-named Avage. Small Movieverse stayed "Ravage," and big Movieverse became "Rav."

Our new big Movieverse Elita-1 had the 'E' in her name changed to an 'A' to be Alita-1, and the smaller one took the '1' out of her own name to be "Elita." We couldn't think of anything to rename either of the Bumblebees or Optimuses (_Optimai?_)

So, we decided to rename them when we could think of something. Once everyone was satisfied with their names, there was a proper welcome for the newest TFs. Except it was a bit awkward, since several kept staring at Alita-1.

Finally, WarForCybertron Bumblebee stated the obvious to her, "You don't have any legs." (_Very blunt, that one, but hey! So am I!_) "So what?" Alita-1 asked, "I can't help it if I was designed like that."

At that, I sensed ShortCircuit's mostly-positive mood evaporate. "Her is sound much like Lighter," ShortCircuit told me, "Would be friends if him be alive still." I felt her pushing away her sad memories and start working more on the nerve-wires.

I tried to cheer her up by suggesting mentally, 'Maybe some of the others could stay here, and be safe! We have woods they could hide in and stuff. Won't that be great?'

After a pause, ShortCircuit answered doubtfully, "Yes. Would be great if happen. One be coming to Earth soon. Him is twin of Lighter. Blindside."

_I won't be able to update either of my Fanfics (this one and the Caterwaul story) for a while, since my sister –FireFlare- and I are going away on vacation with our grandparents for several days. Bye for now!_


	34. Chapter 34

_Hallloo! I been on vacation! And now I'm back to continue the story! WHOO! To Bumblebeecamaro38: hahaha, no, not normal-life-sized, but normal-toy version. That **would** be funny though. To Autobot-Bre: Thanks, and yeah I really enjoyed the vacation. To Yes I'm Human: Hahaha, cool username, and that would be so cool! Maybe they DO blow stuff up in ther! Ther've been some pretty weird-looking stains in the microwave that I just can't seem to find the origin of! To Knockout'sFanGirl221: Cool, my sis (FireFlare) says "femme" that way, too. To CureAnimeLover: Thanks! Also, sorry I didn't reply to the people who commented on the 32nd chapter, I'll do tha at the end of this one._

To help ShortCircuit take her mind off of sad memories, I decided to practice our flying as much as possible. So now, that pine-tree (_that we'd almost fallen off in chapter 23_) became our take-off point.

While holding on tightly to one thick limb of the tree using both hands, I'd flap our wings really hard, angling them forward and down on the down-stroke. Basically, I was clinging to a branch, and flapping like a giant mutant hummingbird.

After flapping for several minutes, we had to take a break. We took several breaks, 'cause I'm just lazy like that. Haha. I started listening to "Heart Of Courage" after a while, using a little recording-thingie that I put in my pocket. **Such** a good song!

By the next day, I managed to actually let go of the tree branch, and we started hovering. We had to flap like crazy, and it was agony for my spine and back-muscles, but we flew! I decided to take the practice a step further; turning in midair!

By flapping one wing harder than the other, I managed to spin around in a circle, causing my back to hurt worse, but it was just so much fun to be FLYING! Completely free, not chained to gravity, not connected to my shadow on the ground, flying!

I flapped both wings harder, and then noticed how high up we were. At this point, we were up almost as high as the roof of the house! People might see us flying!

And that would be bad. Muchly bad indeed.

Looking down was a mistake though. Oddly enough, though I loved flying, I was scared of heights! I nearly forgot to flap our wings, and we dropped down several feet, which made ShortCircuit yell at me.

"Sorry! Sorry!" I yelped, and began a much slower descent back toward the ground. Then we were hovering above just a couple feet above the earth. Sooo… How to land? I just stopped flapping.

And fell. Ad idea. We landed with a yelp, my yelp. The impact onto the ground jarred me, sending a jolt through my feet and up to my head. Ouch.

ShortCircuit sighed at me, "Us is needing to watch more flying bird-lessons." Yep. We were watching the small birds that visit our large birdfeeder, and trying to learn from their example.

It was a lot better than being **taught** how to fly, listening to Silverbolt's and Airazor's lessons.

Which get really boring once ya' get over the fact that yer' being lectured by a living Transformer toy about how to **fly**.

Anywho, we practiced a bit more, and could at least land semi-properly by the end of the day. …Ok, so my feet had bruises on 'em, and my legs ached from my horrible landings, but still.

The problem was that every time we flapped our wings, it was like ShortCircuit's nerve-wires were being pulled out of my muscle-tissue. Very painful.

Apparently, ShortCircuit needed to add in thicker-wire-thingies to keep her from being pulled off my back by the strain.

Oh goodie. More wires.

The day after that was Saturday, which was blessed with snow! Ah, the month of January truly was a marvelous creation indeed.

"Wow," I told ShortCircuit, and less than a week ago, I didn't think it'd ever get around to snowing, and didn't even know real Transformers existed!" Yeah; it'd only been a week. Still can't believe it.

ShortCircuit had never seen snow in person before; she'd only seen it on the internet. And thus, we decided to go forth… and play in the snow! (_Hahaha, I enjoy sounding dramatic-ish._)

Freefel, ShortCircuit, and I decided to go exploring the snow-coated woods behind our house. It was exciting and so much fun, plus we didn't have to worry about any bugs or ticks, what with the cold and the snow.

ShortCircuit was thrilled to see snow for the first time, and amazed at the difference that the many tiny snow-flakes could make. I knew there was a metaphor in there somewhere, but I didn't say anything.

We were heading back to the house, retracing Freefel's and my footsteps, when my sister gasped. I looked in the direction she was staring, and gasped too.

There, stationed among the pie trees… was a police car.

_To Bumblebeecamaro38: Yeah, stinkin' Megatwit. To Blackhooves: Neat! Thanks so much! And, no, I never knew that, but that's so cool! Gibbs: Cool username, I love NCIS! To Anonymous: Thanks. Wow, you too? Awesome! I feel **connected** to people now! To Autobot-Bre: Yeah, sorry 'bout the sad parts. Yes it was Blackout; he's in cahoots with my grandparents! So **that's** why they sent us on vacation! To stop me from updating! D8 To Screamer's girl: Yeah, poor her. Ya' do? Neat! And yes he did! My ferret tells me it is true! To Knockout'sFanGirl221: You live on the Nemesis? AWESOME! Take me with you! Yep, one of my relatives has it too, but she's doing well. Thanks! Thanks! To all of yyyoooouuuuu!_


	35. Chapter 35

_Hello. Almost all of our baby fish have died. It's very sad, and I buried them in a box. NOW I NEED CHEERING UP! SO I SHALL ANSWER SOME REVIEWS BEFORE I LOSE MY INSANITY! To Screamer's girl: I love snow too! Maybe someday, the miracle of snow shall seek out your home and bless you with it's presence, that'd be so awesome and I would cheer for you! To Midnight Prime: Wheeljack, yes, but not yet. A giant flaming cookie you say? Hmm… And yeah, FireFlare and I took a look at 'Rescue Bots'… It's… wellll… It's **Transformers**, so it's **OK**, but… You were right; Optimus looks so WEIRD! I'd love to see the flying turtles that you speak of. To CureAnimeLover: Yep. In the story, only a week has passed since I met ShortCircuit. Da' police car does be Barricade. To Knockout'sFanGirl: Thanks. Oh, Okee dokey then, I'll try to visit when Megatwit ain't there, 'cause sadly, I isn't a Cybertronian. Yet. Anyway, on with this chappy-ter!_

I gasped (again) in surprise, then remembered what'd happened the last time that Frenzy and Barricade had been here. They'd said that they would come back soon, when they expected ShortCircuit's nerve-wire project to be completed.

Well, she **had** been working on it, but on and off, and she'd had to start making the support-wires too, so she wouldn't slip off my spine when flying. So, the permanent/ removable nerve-wires were only partially completed.

'ShortCircuit,' I asked her mentally, 'Quick! Complete as many permanent wire-thingies as you can!' I felt like I was encouraging someone to finish a big school project on the day it was due.

ShortCircuit worked on completing the permanent-removable wires as fast as she could, while Freefel and I inched through the thin snow, toward Barricade. The wires hurt, but not too badly.

It was like having lots of really dull pencils poked into my back all at once.

Pretty soon, Freefel and I were only a few feet away from Barricade, who rumbled his engine a little bit to acknowledge our presence.

"H-Hi, Barri," I whispered, still feeling rather scared of him, and the Decepticon police car turned toward us in a split-second.

"'Barri'?" Freefel muttered to me, and I shrugged, whispering, "I don't wanna call him 'Cade' like everyone else, although it **is** a cool nickname for him."

Just then, Frenzy hopped out of Barricade's vehicle-mode, and the police car transformed. "EEP!" I squeaked, and jumped back; I didn't want to get hit by all those moving doors and tires and stuff!

Frenzy looked amused at our nervousness, and lunged forward in a fake-attack. I flinched, and Freefel instinctively twitched a bit. When the relatively-small Decepticon started laughing at us, I wanted to smack him with a tree branch.

Of course, that would result in us getting killed by Barricade, so I resisted my Frenzy-tree-branch-smacking impulse. I think ShortCircuit appreciated the effort.

Barricade, who didn't look that much like his toy-version, (_Not as unbalanced, the toy-version looks as if his shoulders and chest are about to collapse on his legs and squish 'em._) looked down at Freefel and I, and I tried not to look scared. …I failed.

"Have the removable connection wires been completed?" Barricade rumbled, sounding cautious. I looked so far up at him that my neck started hurting.

"I, uh, I'll check with ShortCircuit," I told him nervously. Just then, I felt something moving in my back. It felt like a big thorn being pulled out, and I felt a tiny portion of one wing go numb.

'What are you doing?' I thought to ShortCircuit, and she sounded pleased, "It work now! Is able disconnect with no hurting! Success!" '…That's what that weird thorn-thingie was?' I mentally asked, and she replied with an affirmative.

I grinned and looked up at Barricade again. I'd been staring at the ground, which I did sometimes while conversing with ShortCircuit. "It works," I informed Barricade and Frenzy, "And I think we can try it out."

ShortCircuit excitedly disconnected more wires, which caused my entire back to itch and tickle uncomfortably. That, added with the fact that I was loosing feeling in both of our wings, was very disconcerting.

Imagine having one entire arm go completely numb, and unable to move. It was like that, only weirder. These were **wings** that were actually a **transformed cybertronian** and were being **completely removed** from my back's **nerves** and **tissues**! Very disconcerting indeeeed…

After less than a minute, I couldn't feel our wings at all, and there was a 'thud' on the ground behind me. I looked, and there was ShortCircuit, still in wing-mode.

She transformed and stretched a bit, looking pleased and sooo happy to be able to move, after being stuck on my back for a week.

Frenzy looked glad to see her, and cheered in Cybertronian-language. While he and his sister chatted, (_Apparently, Frenzy'd had lots of practice learning how to understand her super-quiet speaking and charades_) Barricade sent Freefel and I to cover up the tire tracks he'd made in the snow. Fun.

About a dozen snow-angels later, we returned to the clump of pine trees that was the temporary hideout of the 'Con trio. ShortCircuit had apparently been explaining to Frenzy the concepts of a snowball fight, and Barricade was looking relaxed. Well, as relaxed as a deadly giant robot can be.

ShortCircuit saw Freefel and I returning, and pranced over to me. She transformed her head to head-phone mode, and yelled in my ear (_remember, ShortCircuit yelling is very quiet_) "I is to leave now! You come with! Us is go with Frenzy and Barricade to Starscream!"

WHAAAAT?!

_Unfortunately, I noticed that in the last chapter, I said "**pie** trees" instead of "**pine** trees." OOPS! But I'm too lazy to go fix it. Oh well. PIE TREES!_


	36. Chapter 36

_Hi! Sorry I haven't updated in so long, I forgot! To Autobot-Bre: Thanks! Don't worry, it's OK. Okee dokey then, I shall see-eth thine reviewing Fanfiction self soon! To Knockout'sFanGirl: Me too, although I've never eaten any pie except chocolate pudding pie. I'd love to see a pie tree though… I shall! To Blackhooves: Heh heh heh, yes, pie trees. Interesting, very interesting indeed, these lime pies of keys… I'll take a look at the story that you speak of. Thank you! To Autobot-Mayday: Ok, I shall! And now, on with this chappy-ter!_

I sunk to my knees in surprise, able to feel the freezing ice through my snow-suit. So. **I** was going **with** ShortCircuit?! To say 'hi' to **Starscream**?!

"W-why am I coming… with you guys?" I stammered, dazed. In answer, ShortCircuit jumped on my shoulders and slithered down to my back, reattaching her many nerve-wires. **COLD!**

"I no can fly with no you," she reminded me in head-phone mode, "And I is 'assigned' to flying Decepticon. So I is no good if no can fly." I remembered what she'd told me about the 'Cons who'd been deemed "useless," and I shuddered.

I would help ShortCircuit prove that 'defects' like her were just as good as any Cybertronian! Then maybe Megatron wouldn't want them dead.

"Ok," I replied, "I'll do what I can. But, ya' know, my parents are gonna notice if I go missing." Frenzy cocked his head to one side, "So?"

I rolled my eyes. "**Sooo**, they might call the police and organize a search or something. The **real** police," I added to Barricade, who simply said, "Hmmm." Decepticon of many words, that one.

I thought about the predicament, knowing that the 'Cons wouldn't really care whether I had my parents permission to leave or not.

"How long will I be away?" I asked, "An hour? A couple days? I mean, I can hide **this**," – I pointed to the long scratch from Frenzy's ninja star that he'd thrown when we first met – "and I can hide ShortCircuit from them, but I can't hide any lack-of-being-home that this job might require."

I didn't mention school, because honestly? Who cares? I'd much rather be hanging out with alien robots than dealing with homework and quizzes. Still, the teachers would want an explanation if I was absent for too long.

After a couple minutes, it was decided that ShortCircuit and I would go and be introduced to her new 'partner' Starscream today, return home, and would report back to the 'Cons whenever we were told to.

It would be a lot better than being trapped with them 24/7, so we agreed. I also recorded my voice so that Freefel could replay it to our parents if they wondered where I was. If they thought that they heard me, they'd assume that I must be nearby and, therefore, at home.

Some recorded bits were: "I'm fine," "I'm staying outside a bit longer," "I'll just have a sandwich," etc. If there was some answer to a question our parents might ask 'me,' then Freefel could try to imitate my voice. (_I've been told that we sound very similar on the phone._)

Freefel didn't want to stay behind, but we really didn't have much of a choice. I hesitantly climbed into the backseat of Barricade's vehicle mode, feeling like a criminal being taken away to the police station.

Frenzy sat on the seat next to me, and I hysterically thought, 'Oh goodie! Another prisoner! Ha ha ha!' My delirious thought quickly ended as Barricade drove out of our back yard, right over the snow angels we'd made to cover his previous tire-tracks.

...Now they looked like snow-angel roadkill.

After several minutes of driving, we arrived near a forest, near a clearing with giant metal telephone-wire tower-thingies. (_I dunno what they're called.)_ I was allowed to get out, and Barricade drove into the forest through a small dirt path.

I had to make sweep the ground with a big stick to cover up his tracks. It was better than making more snow angels, I suppose.

All four of us hid in the forest as we waited for Starscream to arrive. It got kinda boring after a while, so I had a snowball fight with a tree. Since I have horrible aim, the tree was winning. Yeah, I know, it's pathetic.

Frenzy apparently thought that my lack of skill was amusing, because he started laughing. I growled at him, and the little 'Con threw a pinecone at my head. When I threw one at Frenzy (and missed), he laughed even more.

Barricade however, seemed rather angry at me for tossing a pinecone at his diminutive partner, so I apologized, not wanting the bigger 'Con to step on me or something. In reply, Frenzy threw another pinecone at me.

And thus, the pinecone wars began…

After several minutes of climbing trees, practicing flying, and having pinecones thrown at me (I wasn't allowed to throw any back) I heard Barricade announce, "Quiet. Starscream is approaching."

I looked up and saw, through the trees, an incredibly fast fighter plane flying toward the nearby clearing, which bordered the forest that we were hiding in.

Oh goodie. Nowhere for me to hide if things went wrong.

_Dun dun dunnnn! Not a very good cliffhanger, I know. Sorry 'bout that. I'll try to update soon!_


	37. Chapter 37

_Hi again! I just started a new story, about 'Kid Vs. Kat'! Anywho, I'm so excited about typing up this chapter; it was one of my favorites to write, and now I can make it even better on Fanfiction! I hope you all like it! To Knockout'sFanGirl: Yes, fewer than 7 chapters until then. Thank you! Thank you again! To Autobot-Bre: Thanks! Oh yes indeed, the pinecone wars. Pinecones are funny for some reason, I think. Okee dokey! To Taeniaea: Thank you very much! To Autobot-Mayday: You are welcome for the pinecone wars, oh kind reviewer! And yes, I shall update soon! On with this long-awaited Starscream chappy-ter!_

I stared at the huge jet-Transformer. He was around twice the size of Barricade, who was about twice the height of a tall human.

So Starscream was like the height of four tall humans standing on one another. Or four average-height humans and one smallish one. In other words, he was really tall.

His jet-form was really dark silver, but his robot-form had more colors.

Mostly orangey reds and silver, with some light indigo on his arms and joints, and sections of pale purple on his legs and tips of his armor.

I was a bit too far away to see many details. The fact that my left eye was still slightly messed up from Frenzy's kick (_see chapter 26_) didn't help much either.

Starscream strode forward and through the trees surprisingly quietly. Still, he was a Decepticon, he was rather famous, and he was big.

Thus, I hid in a bush.

This did not work, since I was wearing a brightly colored coat that stood out very well in the whites and brown of the wintery forest.

I buried my face in my gloved hands and moaned quietly, "I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, my last wish is to have someone like Ducky from NCIS do my autopsy, I'm gonna die, I'm sooooo gonna die…"

Frenzy yanked me out of my rather pathetic hiding place, half dragging me by one coat-sleeve. I whimpered and followed him.

A squirrel nearby chattered and flicked it's tail at us, and I thought deliriously, 'Oh yay, a squirrel! A witness to my murder. Too bad humans don't speak squirrel.'

'You is strange human,' ShortCircuit thought at me, but I'm pretty sure that she was scared, too.

Once we were within earshot, Starscream asked Barricade in a faintly hiss-y voice, "What is this pathetic human doing her? I was informed that my 'partner' would be a flight-capable malfunction, not… this."

"The Decepticon malfunction 'ShortCircuit' is with the human," Barricade growled, then ordered me, "Show him." I resisted the at-that-time-foolish impulse to tell him to say please.

Instead, I removed my heavy winter coat, and stretched out our wings. ShortCircuit poked her head out, squeaked, and pulled it back in again.

I just stood there with my arms around myself, shivering. I may like cold weather, but even **I** don't like standing outside in a freezing forest in early morning in a T-shirt when it's barely 30 degrees Fahrenheit!

Starscream stared at me for a couple seconds, and questioned Barricade, "Then what is the point of this insignificant human being here? "

"Um," I squeak-whimpered, "I help ShortCircuit fly."

Starscream whipped his head around to leer at me. "Oh **really**?" he scoff-sneered condescendingly. I find that he's surprisingly good at that.

I nodded and stared at the ground as the Decepticon leaned his gigantic head really close to inspect me.

Yikes! I can't even look most **humans **in the eye; how was I supposed to look up at **Starscream**?!

A moment later, the huge 'Con stood back up and abruptly informed Frenzy and Barricade that they could leave. They did so, though Frenzy seemed highly reluctant to, since he probably didn't want to leave his sister all alone there to be squished or something by Starscream.

After the duo left, Starscream just stared at me for about a minute, until I mumbled, "Hi, S-Starry."

"'Starry'?" he inquired with an edge in his voice, which wasn't nearly as scratchy or high-pitched as portrayed in some TF series, like G1.

"Yep," I replied nervously, "S' better than 'Screamy'." A split second later, I was so scared that I blurted out, "Please don't kill us!"

The Decepticon's dark scarlet optics narrowed as he asked suspiciously, "And why would I do that?"

Shaking, I answered rapidly, "Um, b-because most Decepticoons hate humans and the only reason that Megatron assigned ShortCircuit to you is so that she would be killed and out of his way!"

That seemed to actually surprise Starscream, and his optics widened. After a moment, he picked us up (causing me to squeak and mentally start screaming) and lightly placed us on a thick branch of a large tree, a bit lower than eye-level with him.

"…Didn't Megatron tell you about it?" I asked nervously, and he shook his head.

"Tell me more, human."

_YAY! I'm gonna LIVE! Ya' know, I think that almost every TF fan secretly thinks that at least one of the TF universe's Starscreams is really cool. Or not-secretly. Man, he is just such an awesome character!_


	38. Chapter 38

_Hi! My family and I got to go horse-back riding! It was so amazing! …On a more depressing note, if you have pest problems with mice or snakes or something, **DO NOT EVER** use glue-traps! They're horribly **inhumane, and disgusting**! There were two birds that got stuck in two of our glue-traps several days ago, and the poor things were **terrified**! Some of the glue got stuck on my fingers while we tried to free the first one, and the goo is repulsively sticky, **torturous to remove**, and partially **poisonous**! We took both of the birds to a veterinary place, on the separate days that they each got stuck. The first one **died** on the day that we brought in the second. The people there told us that glue-traps ensnare innocent creatures like little birds far more often than their intended target, like a poor scared little mouse. So, kindly heed my warning, save the animals, and please enjoy this here chapter! (Answers to reviews are at the end.)_

Wow. Starscream had asked me- well, ordered, really- to tell him more about what was going on. Maybe I **would** live a few more minutes, instead of being squished or something.

"Um… Ok," I told him, "Well, ShortCircuit explained to me that Megatron didn't want any… uh…"

"Malfunctions," ShortCircuit muttered.

"Right, malfunctions," I continued, "Thanks." Starscream looked at me funny, probably 'cause it looked like I was thanking myself, but he let me continue.

"So, Megatron sent the 'malfunctons' away to different planets, or into combat so that they'd be lost or die and be out of his way. Since he doesn't think that they're of any use to him, he doesn't want any to live."

Starscream considered this for a moment, then said slowly, as if restating something that he'd lost faith in, "Megatron… sent the little 'malfunctions' to be… partners. If he'd wanted them to die… he would've killed them himself."

I shrugged, trying to disagree without getting him mad, "Maybe if he'd killed them, he might've lost the other Decepticons' support. If they knew that Megatron was killing their own kind -just because they were small- then they could've rebelled or something, and Megatron would have fewer soldiers to fight for him."

"Hmm," Starscream muttered, his dark scarlet optic narrowing.

"umm," I asked, "I thought you hated Megatwit- erm, Megatron. Your character certainly despised him in all of the TF series, except for… TF Energon, I think. But you had some really cool powers in that series. Sad back story, too."

(_For anyone who hasn't seen Transformers Energon, I can't give it away, sorry!_ _The show's good, but not as good as Transformers Armada._)

Starscream growled, "If you're quite finished discussing the absurd renditions of myself in different television series, we can get back to the matter at hand."

"Right! Ok," I squeaked nervously, "Sorry. So, um, anyway, the whole rebellion-or-lost-of-support-issue-thing is probably why Megatron decided to partner up the 'malfunctions' with other 'Cons, so every malfunction's death would seem like an accident."

Oops. I'd forgotten how much ShortCircuit hated that word, "accident." It'd been the word that Megatron used to describe his murder of ShortCircuit's friend, Lighter.

ShortCircuit let out a shriek, both mentally and out loud, causing me to wince. "Not accidents!" she yelled, clenching her nerve-wires in rage at Megatron.

Unfortunately, it hurt when she moved all the nerve-wires that were attached to the muscle and tissue in my back. I instinctively reached up my arms, which had been clinging to the tree trunk, to stop that.

Remember now, that we were really high up in a very tall tree.

Thus, I lost my balance. On top of a very tall tree.

And we slipped. Out of a very. Tall. Tree.

I was too startled to remember how to fly, and even if I did, we'd hit the ground within two seconds! I let out a scream/ yelp and snapped my eyes closed.

Clang!

What? The ground does not go 'clang' when one falls out of a tree! The ground goes 'thump,' the person goes 'crunch/squish' and is then dead.

...So why was I not dead? And why did my side hurt?

I opened my eyes to see that I was in Starscream's hand. …I was in a giant alien robot's **hand**. …I was in a **hand**!

I could not get over this fact.

"Thh…" I wheezed in shock, "Thank you. Thank. You. Starscream." He growled and dumped me back on the big tree branch again. Yipe!

"What, were you **doing**?" he questioned in an irritated voice, so I explained shakily, "ShortCircuit got angry about what Megatron did and startled me. So I fell. Sorry, she just **really** hates Megatron."

I think I saw Starscream grin.

_To Knockout'sFanGirl: Yeah, same here, except I don't like TFPrime Screamer very much, since he killed poor Cliffjumper. Thank you for the compliment of my chapter! I shall! Don't worry; you'll know what happens as I add more chappy-ters! To Autobot-Mayday: I have to agree, even TFPrime Screamer is _*-starts coughing-*_ kinda _*-starts choking-*_ cool. _*-collapses on floor, writhing-*_ ...Sorry; I ain't used to complimenting him. (_**TFP Screamer**: Ha ha! You DO have some respect for me! **Me**: Silence! *hits him on the head with a huge frying pan* **TFP Screamer**: *falls unconscious* **Me**: …But you are sooorta ok…_) And yes, Movieverse Starscream DOES look like a Dorito. In my fanfic here, he does not. To Autobot-Bre: YAY! I'm very glad you liked it! And I really am serious; If I die, I want Ducky to do my autopsy. Or at least someone who is very Ducky-ish. To Patchwork Knightess: Try watching for falling stars that look like TF stasis pods, then approaching it with caution. That's all for now, thanks for reviewing, and **DON'T USE GLUE-TRAPS!** They are evil. **Spread da word!**_


	39. Chapter 39

_Helloooooo! FireFlare and I had our first school day of the year today. Now we're both in high school. *shudders* Anyway._

_To KnockOut'sFanGirl: OHHH! THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH! Now many more little animals shall be safe! 8D And your promise is even more special and wonderful by the fact that you promised on the grave of valiant and bold Cliffjumper! Thank yooooouuuuu! I would send you lots of energon goodies and cookies if I could, but I have no ground bridge. …Yet._

_To Autobot-Mayday: Ummm… Dunno, really. I've written almost 87, and I'm planning on 200! Maybe I'll split this fanfic into 2 halves of 100. Don't worry, I shan't stop. Unless I'm dead; then FireFlare will have to update for me._

_To Autobot-Bre: YAY! THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH TOO! I really appreciate the non-use of eeeevil glue-traps, and the birds do too! They all thank you and other wonderful people for helping! And yeah, I agree about Screamer. As the series goes on, I hate him a teeny bit less._

_And now: the chapter._

It took a little while to explain to Starscream about ShortCircuit and how she can't speak loud enough to be heard easily. As a result, whenever he asked ShortCircuit something, I had to relay her replies to him.

Being a very cautious 'Con, Starscream asked stuff in Cybertronian, so I wouldn't understand what he was saying. Of course, since ShortCircuit was connected to my brain, we could tell what each other was thinking, so I didn't miss much.

The Cybertronian language is very click-y. Lots of clicking, chittering, and clacking noises. But it sounds very cool.

I only understood the meaning of a little bit of what was said though. For example, I have no clue about politics and stuff like that, or some of the Cybertronians that Starscream mentioned.

So, there I was. Standing in a really tall tree, in January, in the snow, with no coat or snowsuit on, chatting with a giant Decepticon. This was a little weird, even for me.

I clenched my teeth together to stop them from chattering, then rubbed my cold arms with numb fingers.

I shifted my legs a bit. When I'd fallen onto Starscream's hand, my left foot had landed first, and now had a faint bruise on it. Not sprained or anything, just a bit sore.

'Is you ok?' ShortCircuit asked me, to which I instinctively replied, "Yeah; I'm fine." I've developed the habit of saying that I'm completely fine even when I'm not.

I slowly sat down on the branch, my back leaning on the trunk, and my arms wrapped around my knees to stop the shivering.

"What are you doing?" Starscream asked impatiently.

I looked up at him miserably and retorted, "Learning about frostbite and hypothermia." But my voice sounded funny because I was shaking so much.

Maybe I'd die of cold instead of the honor of being shot, squished, or killed in some other fashion by a Decepticon. I mean, **how many** humans can brag about that kind of epic death? Oh wait, none. 'Cause they'd be dead.

I mentally slapped myself, telling myself to not keep overreacting. I wasn't gonna die yet.

In my mind, overreacting was making a big deal out of nothing. Making a big deal out of nothing was a way of trying to get attention. And trying to get attention like that would be weak.

"You… You is very hard on self," ShortCircuit told me.

"No I'm not," I mumbled, not wanting sympathy. Sympathy was great, but I just didn't want any at that point.

I looked up to see Starscream's huge face about 2 or 3 feet away. My delusional brain told me to poke it, but I didn't.

"I wanna go home," I muttered softly.

… "Then fly there," Starscream ordered.

Huh?! All that way? We'd never flown that far before, and I wasn't even sure how to get there from wherever we were.

_Ooh, an interesting plot mini-question has arisen! Not very exciting, sorry. Fear not; the next chapter is much funnier!_


	40. Chapter 40

_HI! I'm so glad to be updating this! I haven't updated this for a long time because I LOST one of the notebooks that I keep my fanfic-rough-drafts in! I was so desperate, unable to find it at a relative's anniversary, and prayed to Jehovah God to help me find it, promising I wouldn't go on Fanfiction for a week if my notebook could be found. A couple minutes later, the notebook was found! And so here I am. I updated my "Caterwaul" fanfic yesterday._

_To Autobot-Blurr221: (I'm pretty sure you used to be KnockOut'sFanGirl221. How come ya' chaged yer' username? Just curious.) Actually, the reason shall be revealed soon… Ah, who am I kidding, I'll just tell ya; Starscream asked because he wants to see how good we were at flying, 'cause he's a great flyer and needs a good flyer as his helper. Thanks you muchly much indeed! Thank you again! I shall try to update a lot! When I can._

_To Autobot-Bre: Thank you, so muchly indeed! With practice, I suppose. ShortCircuit and I were **unused** to long-distance flying, not **unable**. But we didn't know that. Worry not, more chappy-ters shall come!_

_To Autobot-Mayday: Aww, thank you so much! I really appreciate the nice comments that you and others give. Wow, I just realized that the past… 6 reviews all have the word "Autobot" in their usernames. Hooray for Autobots!_

Looking up at Starscream, I gave our wings a pathetic little flutter. "I don't wanna fly home now," I told him, my eyes wide.

"Why not?" he demanded, to which I replied "'Cause then you'll follow me, find out where I live, most likely destroy my home and family, and then I'll do whatever you want 'cause I'll be too traumatized and in shock for my delirious brain to function at all."

There was a long pause before Starscream said something in Cybertronian, which ShortCircuit translated to mean "Umm…"

"You weren't gonna do that?" I asked him, and after a second, he said guardedly, in an almost confused voice, "Nooo…"

"Oh," I smiled, "Then thank you!"

Starscream blinked at me, before informing me that I was a very strange human.

"Yes," I nodded, "ShortCircuit is constantly telling me so. And she's right. Anyway, ya' still want us to fly now?"

The 'Con regained his composure- I mean 'air of superiority and aloofness'- and then nodded, "Yes. Fly above this forest for several minutes, and then return here."

"Yes, sir!" I affirmed, doing a mock salute, "Agent Passenger Pigeon shall proceed with your orders." ShortCircuit sniggered, and Starscream scowled a bit.

Well, **I** thought it was funny. Anyway, I took off my heavy boots and thick snow pants, which would weigh me down when flying.

Then I dropped the winter gear on the ground far below, glad that I was now equally cold all over. (_Yes, I preferred having off all my warm winter-stuff, instead of only my coat off. Just another example of how I'm completely insane._)

So, I carefully inched myself over the edge of the tree branch I was on, clinging to it with my hands and letting my legs dangle below.

Then, I started flapping our wings as I held on to the branch, curving our wings downwards to catch the air beneath them. It took a while for our wings to warm up, and by then ShortCircuit and I were ready to fly.

We flapped a bit harder as I gingerly let go of the tree branch, and then we were hovering in the air, flying, suspended by nothing. (_I gotta say, flying seems very different when you're doing it for an audience._)

"This is incredible!" I laughed with joy as we soared upwards through the shining, snow-frosted forest, "It's so beautiful!"

We flew a bit higher, then flew in a circle just for the fun of it, and I giggled at the wonder of flying. For a second, I thought that I saw Starscream smile a bit.

Interestingly, I thought as ShortCircuit and I flew higher, it hadn't been a mocking or sneering smirk, but more like a wistful smile. Why?

I asked ShortCircuit, and she told me that my joy of flying might've reminded him of young ones on Cybertron.

ShortCircuit'd rarely seen that, since there were very few sparklings and young ones left, but she'd heard about nice things like that. Little ones being happy and carefree. No fear or sadness or battle.

"That be of much long ago now," she told me, as we flew in huge circles through the sky above the trees, which shimmered in the wintry forest.

Finally, we decided to fly back, marveling at the beautiful winter scenes as we passed them a second time. All this flying had been tiring, but at least warmed us up.

When we got back to Starscream, I wasn't sure whether to lad on the tree branch again or the ground. This dilemma was solved when the huge Decepticon held out his hand for us to land on.

"Thanks," I told him as I perched on his hand, letting our wings stretch out to rest.

"For what?" Starscream inquired, slightly befuddled, so I told him, "Thank you for letting us rest on your hand, deciding not to blow up my house or something, catchin' us when we fell off that branch, and for not just killing us."

"Why would I have done that one?" he asked, sounding a bit surprised.

"Because you coulda," I told him. Then I curled up, because the wind was blowing and I was really cold again.

ShortCircuit detached from my back and shuffled away a bit, to get away from my shivering. Thanks a lot. Starscream placed her on his shoulder, then put me on the ground, several yards away from my snow pants, coat, and boots.

"Don't run away, human," he told me. Well, I could've easily **flown** away before, but oh well. Maybe he'd thought that ShortCircuit would've stopped me then.

"Why would I run away?" I asked him.

"Because you coulda," he replied, mimicking my voice from earlier.

I grinned up at him, "But I don't want to."

_And there yee have it; zis chappy-ter. OK, I need a break now. *yawns* I'm all tired, byyyee! I'll try to update soon._


	41. Chapter 41

_Hello! I got to go hiking, and I can't believe how many chipmunks I saw! They're fast little furries! Now for the reviews of the reviewers!_

_To TimeLordBud: Thanks! I keep worrying that pats o' my story go too fast or slow sometimes, so thank you for the compliment! Yes, apparently you ARE the 100th review! Congratulations; you get an energon cake! And I see from your username that you are a fan of Doctor Who! Me too!_

_To KnockOut'sFanGirl221: Ah, ok then. Yeah, it'd be a much shorter story if ShortCircuit and I died. Thanks fer' reviewing!_

_To Autobot-Bre: Thanks! Yeah, I fly in my dreams sometimes, too. It's fun!_

_To EHSparkwoman: Hmm, maybe… I'll try. Thank you. Yay, me too! (But not so much in TF Prime)_

_To The Unknown Shadows: Really? Wow, thanks! I will._

_To honeyfuu: Wow, that's so many compliments! Thank you for them all! I was all worried that the live-TF-toys idea would be too cliché; now I feel better! Yeah, the character is me, in all of my/her craziness and insanity. Yay, I love it when my stories are successfully funny and make people happy! Yahoo and hooray for families! Thanks, I try to make it realistic and serious enough to be believable; and I do love epicness, like the song "Heart Of Courage." Yay, I'm glad ya' liked that; it's hard to describe something like flying. Thank you very much, and your English is great! I only know bits and pieces of Spanish and a teeny tiny bit of Japanese._

_And now, on with the story!_

Since ShortCircuit still wasn't able to talk directly to Starscream, (because of her very-quiet voice) the bigger 'Con ordered her to reattach to my spine and brain so I could speak for her.

'That sentence will never sound normal,' I decided.

Starscream placed ShortCircuit on the ground next to me, where she instantly climbed onto my shoulders, slid down, and reattached to my back nerves. …**COLD!**

"YIPE!" I shrieked, my arms flailing around for no reason, "ShortCircuit, you're freezing cold! Gaaa!"

"So is you," she replied simply. She was right; when I'd dropped my coat and snow pants out of the tree earlier, the clothing'd had the **audacity** to land in a puddle.

So now, when I'd put on my coat and snowpants, it hadn't helped warm me up that much, it just made me uncomfortable, and my socks were already soaked with snow.

Snow-clothes on= soggy yet warm-ish. Snow-clothes off= cold yet dry-ish. Not fun. Not fun at all.

So I draped my coat over my shoulders and focused on translating what ShortCircuit said for Starscream. After a while though, he told my to stop, since my voice sounded funny, probably from all the shivering that I was trying to hide.

"What is wrong with you?" the huge Decepticon asked bluntly. I figured that was as close to 'are you ok?' as I was gonna get.

"I'm ok, just a little chilly," I told him, but I don't think I sounded very convincing, seeing as I'd just uttered the understatement of the month. The whole, entire, freezing, January month.

"Your temperature has been decreasing," Starscream informed me matter-of-factly. "Mm-hm, I'm fine," I told him, silently adding, 'even though my toes and fingers are numb and I can't feel my face.'

"Hmmm," Starscream grumbled. Then with a lot of smooth metaly-noises, he transformed into his fighter plane-mode, and the cockpit opened.

"Get in," he growled in a grudging voice.

Being freezing cold, tired, and thus having even less common sense than usual, I eagerly obliged. I yanked off my soggy coat, snow pants, and even socks, not wanting to get the Decepticon's interior wet.

Then I crawled in and curled up in the pilot seat. It was **warm** in here!

"Hmmmmmmm," I sighed happily, "You're niiice…"

Starscream growled, so I corrected myself, "Um, you're really incredible and warm and I admire your awesomeness?"

"Better," he snickered mockingly.

I rolled my eyes and told him, "Thanks, Starry."

"Why do you keep calling me that?" he asked, so I told him, "It sounds much nicer than 'Screamy.' 'Screamy' sounds like a demented, dairy-based drink. 'Starry' sounds bright and mysterious. You have a really cool name: exciting and dramatic, but also kinda poetic. It's nice."

By now I was mumbling 'cause I was getting sleepy from being in the soft, warm, comfy, nice seat. Of an alien fighter plane.

"I'ss niiiice," I murmured, sounding very loopy.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, human," Starscream muttered after an uncertain pause. "I was'n flah'ering," I protested drowsily, waking up a little, "I think y'have a nice name…"

Another pause.

"Y'need honest compliments more often, Starry," I told him. He didn't object.

_Yay, that was a pretty long chapter for this story! I'm so happy! And tired now. Writing about me being tired made me actually tired. Wow. Maybe I should write about me having no homework ever again…_


	42. Chapter 42

_HI! I woulda updated a lot sooner, but I was captured by the evil homework-monster and kept prisoner in it's dungeon of torture, and have just now managed to elude it's vile clutches. Oh no, here it comes! I may have difficulty updating for a while, since I'll frequently be getting captured by the evil homework-monster and then escaping._

_To Autobot-Blurr 221: Yay! Oh no you don't, Starry! *throws a random ferret-toy at him* Now he will be too busy fleeing from my ferret's wrath to harm you!_

_To Mayday200: Haha, yep, he can be nice if he wants to. What? I hate homework too. Yay, I loves da cold muchly too!_

_To Autobot-Bre: Don't worry, thee shall be snow eventually, wherever you are. Unless it's Australia, or Hawaii or something like that. Yeh, see you next update, I shall._

_To honeyfuu: Yay, I'm glad yee think-eth it funny. Ah yes, timezones are confusing thingies. My chapter helped you sleep? I didn't know it could do that! Henceforth, I shall use this power for good instead of evil… Most of the time. Awww, thank you so much for your compliments, they make my story-writing self so very happy and gooey. I'm so glad you like my writing, I'll keep trying to make it realistic. And your English is great, much better than some people who have spoken it all their lives! Worry not, the homework can't stay forever, it shall flee!_

_To Screamer's girl: Yup, wet clothing is no fun. Unless it's a swimsuit and the person wearing it is in a pool. I wonder if you can be in a pool while wearing a dry swimsuit… Wait, what was I talking about? Oh yes. Ooh, I feel bad for your mum, but that would be pretty funny, I'd laugh at my own, too._

_To smoshaholic: Heh heh, I think so too. Pie trees are much rarer than pine trees, but one cannot climb a pie tree; it is difficult indeed._

_Two of our fish, Isten and Acer, are dying. I dedicate this chapter in their honor._

After a few more minutes of telling Starscream stuff that ShortCircuit told me, I really needed a nap. It's exciting being in a transforming alien robot fighter plane and all, but it isn't as much fun when you're tired and soggy.

Mostly, ShortCircuit told Starscream (via me speaking for her) about what Cybertron was like now, what had changed, etc.

Every once in a while, **I'd** ask a question- how old Cybertronians can get, where they get energon, how the comlinks work exactly, etc.- but Starscream didn't seem to want to give away any information to a little squishy human.

ShortCircuit assured me that she'd tell me that later. Apparently, she liked the idea of knowing lots of stuff that others didn't. I guess that didn't happen often.

Eventually, as I was starting to doze off a little, the huge Decepticon told me, "You may leave now."

I blinked awake as the cockpit opened, cold air whooshing in. "You mean I can go home?" I asked, "Thanks!"

"In the Decepticon army," Starscream informed me with a faint hint of contempt, "'May' is the same as 'can.' If you **may**-not, then you **can**-not, since you are **stopped** from doing anything you may-not do. 'Not-allowed' is 'not-able.'"

I shivered as I climbed out of the cockpit, "Sounds rough."

"It is."

"Well maybe if we work together, then we can change that."

"Hm."

"Okee-dokey then," I told him, "Bye, Starry. Oh, and if you do find my house,"- "I easily will," he notified me- "then please don't blow it up or anything."

"I'll think about it."

"Please? Please promise?"

"Would you believe me if I did?"

"If you meant it, then yeah, of course."

With no reply from Starscream, I shrugged and gathered up my snow-clothes, boots, and socks, and spread our wings to fly.

Since it was an early Saturday morning, there were practically no cars around, so ShortCircuit and I were able to follow a familiar road back toward my house.

As we flew, she stuck her head out the back of my shirt collar, and looked down with me at the beautiful wintry world.

We found that while I moved our wings- flapping and turning them- ShortCircuit was also able to move them- angling the 'feathers.' This made our flying much more graceful and controlled, just the difference of a few feather-movements.

There was a metaphor in there somewhere, I just know it.

Finally, we got back home, and landed in the woods way behind our house, so that no neighbors would see us landing right in the back yard or something.

When we finally reached the house (ShortCircuit had refused to walk there with me, so I had to carry her there, still attached to my spine), I saw Freefel looking rather tired, and throwing snowballs at a tree.

Amazingly, her aim is way better than mine, even when she's tired.

Freefel looked up as she saw me emerge from the woods, and ran over to hug me with relief. I gasped as the hug pressed my cold, soggy clothes to my skin, making startled "Giiiih! Ihh-h-h!" noises.

As we walked back to the house, Freefel asked me what'd happened, so I told her everything. She was ecstatic that I'd been able to meet the infamous Starscream, and asked about a million questions.

Once she stopped pestering me for details, I staggered to our room, put on some dry clothes, and took a much-needed nap.

The next day though, ShortCircuit informed me of something that made me relinquish any other naps I'd hoped to enjoy. She said that she'd sensed another Cybertronian energy-signature nearby.

Seeing as ShortCircuit's energy-signature-locating ability was very poor (she said so herself), that would have to mean that the Cybertronian was very, very close by.

_Dun-dun-dunnn!_


	43. Chapter 43

_HI! I am SO SO SO SO SORRY for not updating sooner! I woulda updated two days ago, but I had too much homework yesterday and Tuesday! Death to homework! DEATH TO IT! Our fish- Isten and Acer- are still alive, which I thank Jehovah for._

_To __Mayday200__: Yep! You'll find out soon... Yay, thank you so much!_

_To __Blackhooves__: Aww, thank you so muchly muchly much indeedilly doodles! Thank you thank you thank you! I will read some of your fanfics when I can and leave nice reviews!_

_To __Autobot-Bre__: AW! Poor you. Maybe you can vacation to a lace with snow? It's kinda weird, 'cause I just had a dream with some snow in it last night! And a desert. And a dragon-egg. And discussions of what knocks people unconscious best, like frying pans. Very weird. Oh, thank you! See ya next update too!_

_To __honeyfuu__: Thank you, muchas gracias, domo arigato, danka shen, and thank you in even more foreign languages! Ooh, you'll see soon, and it shall be exciting!_

_To Autobot-Blurr 221: Thou shalt see-eth soon! I shall try._

_To the chappy-ter!_

By Sunday night, ShortCircuit was flinching every few hours, terrified of what kind of Cybertronian might be lurking near our house.

Every time she'd sense the energy signature, I'd rush to the nearest window to look. But it was getting dark outside, and the mystery Cybertronian would have already left.

"Comes and goes," ShortCircuit whimpered to me, "I no can sense which faction. It not be Frenzy, since him my sibling and I able to sense him easily. Maybe it be Autobot!"

'It's ok,' I mentally tried to reassure her, 'Maybe it's another Decepticon.' Interestingly, that was considered a comforting statement, that a Decepticon might be near our house.

Strangely, even the idea of a fellow 'Con coming to say "hi" didn't seem to help. ShortCircuit was petrified of Autobots, and was even frightened of most other Decepticons, except for her brother Frenzy.

'Why are you scared of your fellow Decepticons?' I thought to her. 'Dangerous,' ShortCircuit answered, 'Them is not liking malfunctions much. Most malfunctions is scared very much.'

So I twisted my arms around to give her a hug. Kinda hard to do, since she was still attached to my spine and was too nervous to come off. Poor ShortCircuit.

So, to find out exactly who was haunting the neighborhood, I decided to check it out.

"NOOO!" ShortCircuit had wailed, "Not go near! Them might hurt, might kill us!"

"Easy, easy," I soothed, both aloud and mentally when no one else was nearby, "I won't let them hurt you. You're like a second sister to me. If any big baddies try to hurt us, I'll rip out their hand-wiring and throw rocks in their optics. Ok?"

ShortCircuit whimpered in reply, but felt a little better. We both felt better after I told Freefel, so she could help out if anything happened.

ShortCircuit wanted to comlink Starscream, so he could help out if we were in danger, but apparently, the huge 'Con was too far away for comlink-connection.

So, after our parents had gone to sleep that night, Freefel and I leaped out of our beds, ready to investigate- and defend, if need be.

So, Freefel opened the window, removed the screen, and I crawled out onto the roof. (Our house has a roof, a side with our bedroom window, and then a lower roof underneath. It was a marvelous take-off point.)

Freefel promised to keep watch with our night-vision goggles, and to tell our parents if I didn't come home. She also promised to sugarcoat any possibly-gory details.

Thanks fer the support, sis.

ShortCircuit and I fluttered down onto the front lawn, and I began slowly walking toward the street. I thought I head Freefel yell-whisper something to me, but couldn't be sure.

My brain recorded the words and filed 'em away for later scrutiny. If there was a later. **Wow**, I was feeling morbid that night!

"Two!" ShortCircuit squeaked, frightened, "Two of them!" I could vaguely make out the dim outlines, but couldn't see any details. Getting a bit closer, I recognized the shape of one. From the Transformers Movie.

And I realized what Freefel had tried to tell me.

Just as this fact registered, the larger vehicle transformed, as did the light-colored vehicle parked directly behind it.

My eyes widened, recognizing the transformer, remembering his famous weaponry and complete hate of Decepticons. And I wished I'd listened to Freefel before.

Because she had called, in a whisper...

"**GMC Topkick.**"


	44. Chapter 44

_Hello again! I'm always amazed at how fast all these amazing readers (you wonderful people, you) review so quickly after I update. Thank you all so much! Also, I been watchin' "Farscape," it is full o' epicness, and I be addicted to it! Scorpy's my favorite character. The show has some not-so-good bits, but mostly epic hilariousness, and thus I suggest watching it and it's aliens and insanity. On to the reviews!_

_To __Link's Rose__: Um, "oh rats" would do quite nicely. I don't like cursing. But thanks fer' reviewing._

_To __Autobot-Bre__: YAY! Wowza for Ironhide, I agree! Thanks!_

_To __Autobot-Blurr 221__: Yep, it's Ironhide all right! Me too, he is epic. *gasp* Never! Thank you so much for the compliment though! But, plese, never suggest that Ratchet may one day alt his wrench-throwing activities, it's just not possible! Thank you!_

_To __Mayday200__: I dunno, what has I done? Haha. Mm, possibly I am dead, possibly I ain't dead. Heh heh, yes, yes he is. Thanks!_

_To __WhiteCougarMatrix117__: Haha, yeah, I mentally have a fangirl-attack sometimes, and I start squeaking. Yeah, Ironhide! Thanks yee fer' reviewin'._

_To __EHSparkwoman__: Huh, I think I've seen your username when searching for TF fanfics to read. Yep, it be Ironhide. Can't tell ya'. Yup, in trouble, they be._

_And now. The chappy-ter._

"AUTOBOTS AUTOBOTS AUTOBOTS!" ShortCircuit frantically shrieked at me in a too-late warning.

"Got you, Decepticon!" Ironhide hissed furiously, reaching out to catch me. (_He didn't speak English, but Cybertronian, and ShortCircuit instantly translated for me._)

I fell backwards in shock, then scrambled away backwards on my feet and hands, belly-up. A half-second later, the Autobot's giant hand hit into the ground where I'd been standing, and Ironhide growled.

I scrambled away as he swung his hand again, trying to scoop me up, and I tried to hide behind the thin maple tree nearby. I tried hard not to cringe as ShortCircuit started screaming.

"HIM IS KILL US!" She shrieked, "RUN RUN RUN! FLY!"

'Can't,' I thought desperately to her as I jumped away again, panicking, 'He could shoot us down and we could die from falling! Oh who am I kidding, we could die anyway! I'm gonna die! AAAAA!'

Oh the irony. I'd survived multiple Decepticon encounters, but was about to die at the hands of one of the Autobots! And one of the ones who I liked the best because of his epic weaponry at that!

The smaller Autobot, silver or gray from what I could see, was also trying to catch us. This one was being more subtle, sneaking around the side. Well I would **not **let myself –or ShortCircuit- be captured and killed!

As I backed away, I tried to scream for help, hoping a neighbor might hear, and that the 'Bots would have to leave. The 'scream' that came out was more like a long, whining squeak. Pathetic. I smacked myself on the forehead for that.

Seeing Ironhide inches away, I leaped away, preparing to run. But two of his huge fingers caught hold of the string from my shorts and my left hand. Thankfully, I don't think Ironhide had expected to have actually gotten a hold, and I managed to squirm away, writhing and wailing/squeaking breathlessly.

I struggled to my feet and dashed away, desperately racing around the side of the house, passing a huge tulip tree on my way towards the back yard.

I kept running, even though I heard a transforming sound and vehicle-y driving-sounds. Maybe I could get far away enough, fly up, and hide inside my house! Or just fly away through some trees and out of the neighborhood!

That delusion of safety was shattered when the silver-colored Autobot easily drove past, turned around, and stopped right in front of us, effectively cutting off our chance of escape and meager hope of survival.

I was running too fast to stop, and bonked right into the vehicle's side, then fell over. Well. I guess I wouldn't be dying with any dignity then.

I glanced back to see Ironhide rushing toward me, probably more than eager to kill the supposed 'dangerous Decepticon': me!

So I did something stupid and dove underneath the silver car.

"What are you doing?" it asked in surprise. (_Again, this was said in Cybertronian. ShortCircuit mentally translated for me._)

"Trying not to die!" I yelped.

The car simply drove forward a few feet, leaving me without any place to hide. Instantly, a gigantic, thick metal hand snatched me up before I could get up.

"MMMMFFF!" I screamed, covering my mouth with my hands, then begged, "Please don't kill me Ironhide please I'm a human not a Decepticon if you put a magnet near me it won't stick 'cause I'm not made of metal which means I'm not a Decepticon please don't kill meeeee!"

Ironhide, who'd leaned in close to gloat or something, pulled his head back in apparent surprise.

"My neighbors will hear me screaming and think I'm being murdered, which if you kill me, I will be!" I continued desperately, frantically trying to squirm free.

My little hidden bit of claustrophobia kicked in, making me freak out even more and start flipping around and writhing. When that didn't work, I started biting the Autobot's hand like a crazed ferret.

It tasted really, really bad. So I started clawing at my tongue with my nails while continuing to flail around. I was getting tired though.

Ironhide snarled something in Cybertronian, but ShortCircuit was too terrified and freaked to translate, and I was too terrified and freaked to have listened anyway.

"English!" I begged, my flailings subsiding to spasmodic twitches, "Speak! English! Please!"

The silver car transformed and held out a hand. I whimpered, struggled a bit more, and went limp as Ironhide handed me over. "Mmeh."

"Ya know," said the silver Autobot in English, merciful English, "Prime said we were s'possed to **catch** this 'Con, not kill 'er."

Ironhide ave a growling sigh, "I know, Jazz, I know."

**JAZZ?!**

_You were right, __EHSparkwoman__. It be Jazz!_


	45. Chapter 45

_HI! Here I be with another chappy-ter!_

_To __Autobot-Blurr 221__: Yay! Haha, I am glad for your happy-dance._

_To __Mayday200__: Heh heh, yup! Jazz! Yeh, he is certainly a great Autobot, so I understand yer' Jazz-obsession. (Honestly, I think I may have a bit of a Starscream-obsession.)_

_To __Autobot-Bre__: Thanks! Oh, worry not, he shall appear soon. Well, not really-soon, but kinda-soon. Aw, don't cry! Here, to make you feel better, I'll give you a mini-hint of what happens with 'im: pranks. Yes, Jazz is muchly cool as well._

_To __Link's Rose__: Um, I'm very glad that the chapter made you happy, but I don't celebrate birthdays. Yeah, he kinda is. (thank you for no curse-words)_

_To __EHSparkwoman__: I'm glad you knew! Yeah, Jazz is very awesome, and I hated his death in the Micheal Bay movie. Ah, okee-dokey._

_To the chappy-ter!_

"**JAZZ**?!" I squeaked, "You're **Jazz**?! Oh my goodness Jazz you're alive!" Then I hugged his hand while making uncontrollable fangirl-ish giggling noises of glee. I'm quite embarrassed, really.

Jazz's blue visor-covered optics widened in surprise, and he turned to Ironhide, "Hey check this out! She's jus' like one a' those fans! Ya' sure she's a 'Con?"

"NoNoNoNoNooooooo," I whined pleadingly, "Jazz, I'm **not** a Decepticon, I promise!" Then my fangirliness (which rarely ever shows itself) took over, and I started giggling again and saying how happy I was that he was alive and not dead like in the movie.

After a thoughtful pause, the epic Autobot placed me on the ground, maybe to see if I would run or something. Oh, I ran alright. I ran to his foot and hugged it, still giggling madly.

"Uh-huh," Jazz stated, "You ain't gonna go do that to 'Hide?"

I glanced over at Ironhide, looked back up at Jazz, and shook my head, eyes wide. "Nooo," I insisted, "He thinks I'm a 'Con and wants to kiillll me."

I glanced back to Ironhide, "No hugs for him." Then I hid behind Jazz's leg.

He started laughing, and I was wondering how I could politely shush him so that he wouldn't wake up my family, when there was a small 'crash.'

There was a frustrated mutter, and after a second or two, there was the sound of rapid footsteps, racing towards us from the far side of the back of the house. It was Freefel, running towards us from where she'd climbed off the roof from our bedroom window.

She raced over and finally skidded to a stop next to me. She had dirt on her pajamas, there were sticks in her hair, and she was holding a flashlight.

"I... came from... the roof," she panted. ...Well **that** sounded totally normal!

"Seekjei," she continued, "I saw them chase you from the front yard, are you ok?" Then she stopped her concerned questioning and gaped at the two Autobots standing in our back yard.

"Am I dreaming?" Freefel asked, sounding awed, "'Cause if I'm dreaming then this is the best dream I've had in a long time and if anyone wakes me up I'm gonna hurt them." And then my sister inexplicably slapped herself.

"Nope!" she cheered, "Not a dream! Oh my goodness, I can't believe I'm seeing real, live actual Autobots! Which ones are you?"

"It's Jazz and Ironhide," I told her. "What?" she asked, "Really? This is amazing! You guys are so cool!"

"Ironhide tried to kill me," I stated bluntly. "WHAT?!" Freefel roared, whipping around to glare and the huge, weapon-wielding Autobot, "How dare you try to kill my sister! You idiot!"

Then Freefel clapped both hands to her mouth, looking horrified, "Oops. I am sooo sorry! Even though I totally meant it, **oops**."

I noticed Jazz pretending to muffle his laughter, and I grinned.

Ironhide frowned, then pointed at me and asked Freefel, "Are you saying... that this is your sibling?"

"Uh, yeah," Freefel told him, "I said 'sister,' and 'sister' usually refers to a female sibling, does it not? What else would Seekjei be? Ooh, that rhymes!"

Amazingly, she and I both already felt totally comfortable with speaking with Autobots who'd attempted to capture me only minutes ago. That's just another way you can tell that we misplaced our sanity many years ago.

"Your 'sibling' is emitting a Decepticon energy signature," Ironhide growled, then looked solemn and pitying, "Has she acted strange lately?" –(_I always act strange, you silly Autobot._)- "Human, it's possible that your real sibling has been replaced by a Decepticon. I'm... sorry."

"...Really?" Freefel asked in an are-you-serious voice, her expression skeptical, "Dude, I think I'd notice if she was. And I know that she isn't."

"How wouldja' know that?" Jazz asked gently, also looking sad for the human who he thought had lost her sister to a Decepticon imposter.

"She **knows**," I told him, "Because **I**'m not emitting the energy signature. ShortCircuit is."

_Ooh, now the 'Bots know that ShortCircuit's here! What are they gonna do?_


	46. Chapter 46

_HI! I have missed updating so much! I couldn't update 'cause I wasn't allowed to go on the computer since I didn't do homework. NOW I AM BACK! And getting addicted to TFPrime Arcee +Screamer pairings and videos! *laughs insanely and twitches*_

_To __Mayday200__: I won't let them kill ShortCircuit! She's like my robot-sister. Yep. Ooh, I like the pranking twins, too!_

_To __Autobot-Blurr 211__: yay for Jazz! Thank you!_

_To __Autobot-Bre__: I'm so glad I made you feel better! And I feel loved when reading the nice reviews of you and other marvelous persons! You are a brave, brave person then._

_To __honeyfuu__: No, no, no, you didn't disappoint me by not reviewing! I don't require people to review every time, just a couple reviews per chapter and I am happy! Ah, school is a time-munching thing indeed. Yeah, finding time is hard these days. Hmmm, I've debated with myself about the mini toy-TFs and their abilities for a while (For some things, I'm still trying to decide about, even now!) And, I thank you for bringing that up, so now I shall tell you. The mni-TFs (toys) have very tiny energy-signatures, and can only comlink-speak to other mini-TFs if they're a short distance away. The big Transformers know that a lot of fans have mini-TFs, so they don't pay that much attention- Oh. You have just given me a great idea! I shall use it! Thank you soooo very much! Hmm. I think ShortCircuit was too scared, and she can't stop me/Seekjei from saying stuff. It is a good point that you make. What? Your review isn't short! It's long! Or at least long-ish, and very well thought-out. I really appreciate your review, so please don't be sorry. Be happy! Please?_

_To __EHSparkwoman__: Who? Me/Seekjei or ShortCircuit? We're both very small to the Autobots._

_TO THE CHAPTER! __**FINALLY**__ I can update it!_

"You have a Decepticon with you?!" Ironhide roared, though somehow managed to do it quietly enough to not wake up our parents.

At the same time, ShortCircuit wailed, "Why you tell?! Autobots is will now kill me!"

"Well I- um- we just- myehh," I replied hopelessly, not sure who to answer first or how. Not satisfied with my pathetically weak answer, the furious Autobot transformed on of his arms into a huge cannon, aiming right at my head. Well how friendly.

"EEP!" I squeaked, darting behind Jazz's leg to hide. Again.

Jazz looked amusedly disinterested in my imminent death as I clung to his leg. Ironhide growled and reached out to rip me off of Jazz's ankle, causing me to cling tighter and whimper.

There was an enraged-yet-quiet shriek, "NO!" from Freefel, who leapt in front of me, her arms spread out. (I assume that she was glaring at Ironhide, but I can't be sure, since I couldn't see her face at that point.)

Freefel yanked a small, pointy stick out of her hair and waved it menacingly at Ironhide, snarling, "Don't you DARE hurt my sister!" Then she threw the stick, and it bounced harmlessly off of the huge Autobot's head. Jazz apparently found this all terribly amusing.

Ironhide looked slightly befuddled at the small human who had thrown the even smaller projectile at him. Then he frowned, and growled at her, "Why are you defending a Decepticon?"

"Ya' mean my sis, who you **thought** was a 'Con, or ShortCircuit, who **is** a 'Con?" Freefel asked sarcastically, "'Cause I'm not letting you hurt either of them."

All this time, ShortCircuit had been calling frantically for Starscream to come save us- well, mostly her right then- and I was startled to hear the enormous Decepticon's voice in reply.

How was he-... Oh, yeah! I'd forgotten that the Transformers had comlinks to communicate! Starscream'd been too far away earlier, but apparently he was close enough for comlink-communication now.

I'd never heard a person taking to me via comlink before. Especially a giant Decepticon. It was... interesting.

"You idiotic human!" he snarled, though his voice sounded far away and was difficult to hear, "What were you thinking?! Get out of there!"

"Well I can't," I protested pleadingly, "If I try to do that, they'll kill me!" "Your life is of little concern to me," Starscream sneered, "I would prefer that the **malfunction** live, seeing as she is more **useful**!"

"Ok, now that's mean to both of us," I pouted, crossing my arms out of habit. In doing so, I fell off of Jazz's lower leg, and remembered that the Autobots could hear me.

"Um..." I mumbled as I looked up at their confused expressions.

"Who... were you just talking to?" Ironhide growled slowly.

"Um..." I repeated. I realized that if I didn't tell Ironhide what he wanted to know, he'd kill me, probably. And if I did, then Starscream would kill me, almost definitely.

"Uhhnnnn," I moaned, curling up into a ball, "I'm dead, I'm dead, I am doooommed..."

Jazz picked me up in one han and cocked his head curiously, "Now, why'd ya' be 'doomed,' 'lil one?" "Becaaauuuuuse," I moaned, too miserable to explain.

Then I had an idea. "Jazz?" I asked hopefully, "If I tell you stuff, will you and Ironhide not kill anyone? Ironhide, mostly." Jazz shrugged. Well, he didn't seem very kill-y in the first place, so this was good.

Ironhide, having heard me, frowned sternly, "Fine. But lie and you're **dead**, 'Con."

I nodded, "Yes, sir! Uh, just two things. Uno, I ain't a Deceticon. Dos, 'not kill anybody' includes ShortCircuit." Said-Decepticon paused in her ranting at me, and I could feel her surprise at what I'd said.

"She's my friend," I continued hesitantly, uncurling on Jazz's hand, "and she hasn't done anything wrong." I saw Ironhide rolling his optics and I scowled at him.

"Ok," I began, "Um... What do you want to know?" "Mostly 'bout the 'Cons," Jazz stated easily.

"Okeydokey," I agreed willingly, "I know **of** the Decepticons in the TV series and movie and stuff, but I've only met-" I sopped because Starscream was shouting at me through the comlink, infuriated that I was giving away info.

"Starry," I said, holding one hand to my head, "Starry, listen, I-Starry, you don't- Look, you- hey, can you please stop-" I couldn't continue, since he was keeping up a continuous rant.

"GAH!" I yelled, "Starry, I barely know anything! I doubt my telling of the other's **names** will cause any harm, ok?" "Human," he intoned darkly, "Do not tell the Autobots **any**thing."

"Miff," I stated, which is something I do when I'm miffed. Then I addressed the Autobots, "Hi. Um, I can hear Starscream yelling at me through ShortCircuit's comlink. His voice is surprisingly painful when he's yelling."

Jazz smirked, "Tha's why e's called 'Screamer.'" I nodded, "Yup. I like 'Starry' as a nickname better. Anyway, um, I've only met a few 'Cons: ShortCircuit, Frenzy, Barricade, and Starscream."

Jazz laughed, "'Only'? I'm 'mazed ya survived meetin' **any** of 'em." I shrugged, "I've survived a few minutes of Ironhide and his deadly weapons; I think I can survive Decepticons at this point. At least fer' now."

I think I saw a quick grin cross Ironhide's face, but I wasn't sure.

"Uh," I continued, "ShortCircuit has a transforming problem." I winced at her half-indignant, half-distressed squeak.

"Why you telllll?" she moaned, "Me is small and is no able to escape! Now them know that and will kill me!" "They won't kill you," I promised her reassuringly. She just moaned again.

"I can hear what she's saying," I continued, "And I help her fly." I slowly extended our wings, which ShortCircuit protested by trying to yank them back in. So I lifted up the back of my shirt so that the 'Bots could see her.

This resulted in some shrieking from ShortCircuit and a startled gasp from Ironhide. Jazz looked mildly intrigued, and lightly tapped one of our wings, causing ShortCircuit to start screaming in fear that he would hurt her.

"Why's this 'Con disguised as a pair a' wings on yer back?" Jazz inquired curiously, so I explained, "She can't fly without a person to help her. And she can't speak loud enough to be heard easily. So the other Decepticons say that she's a 'malfunction,' and Megatron wants her and any others dead."

"What?" Ironhide asked in surprise, "Why would he do that?"

"Because," I explained tentatively, "Megatron doesn't think that 'malfunctions' are worth anything. So that's why he sends them away to other planets to be lost or die in battle, so they won't be liabilities."

"You might have seen some," Freefel added, "ShortCircuit says that there's a lot of them. Fewer, nw that Megatron's trying to kill them off."

There was a stunned silence.

Then Jazz smiled grimly, "Well, then anyone who Megs wants dead... 'S our job t' protect."

_YAY!_


	47. Chapter 47

_WOOHOOOOOOOO! We finnally got power back! Our family, among lots and lots o' others, lost power, and now it is back! ...Unfortunately and sadly, my great-grandmother passed away recently. So did at least three of our fish, because the heaters in their tanks had no power. I dedicate this chapter to my great-grandmother and our three fish (Acer, Isten, and Geo)._

_To __Mayday200__: I'm glad ShortCircuit is alive too, and thanks for your faith in my keeping her alive. Aww, thank you! I love the twins and their pranks!_

_To __honeyfuu__: No he ain't. Yeah, the whole name-thing can be confusing, since Seekjei is me in the story, and I talk in 1__st__ and 3__rd__ person and stuff. Thank you for your patience, it is very much appreciated, as is your well-thought-out concern. Yes, you did give me an idea, (I forgot to use it in the last chapter, so I will use it in this one.). Also,you've just reminded me of something I've been thinking about writing in, thanks. Thanks, Freefel is my sister in the story, and based on my real sister, FireFlare. She says "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" for your compliments. I've always thought of Jazz as being kind of casual and funny. You are welcome, and thank you for reviewing so nicely and thoughtfully!_

_To __Link's Rose__: I'm glad that they're nicer now, too. Well, Ironhide is nicer; Jazz is __**still**__ nice. Yippee! Heh heh, I like my Starry-nickname for him, I'm glad you like it too! Hahaha, yup,his more-used nickname is very accurate._

_To __Autobot-Blurr 221__: Yay! I'm glad to update! Thank you! I agree, those two are very cool._

_To __Autobot-Bre__: Thanks! You're right; he shall not. Okee dokey!_

_ON TO THE CHAPTER!_

I gasped in surprise and joy, feeling a huge smile across my face.

"Thank you, Jazz!" I laughed in relief, "Thank you, thank you, thank you soooo much!" I was still on top of his hand, and I hugged it.

Then I turned to smile at Ironhide, "You want a hug too?" The Autobot shook his head fiercely.

I shrugged and continued hugging Jazz's hand, asking Ironhide, "Well, then maybe I could introduce you to the mini-version of you? I showed him how to burn leaves with a magnifying glass, and he really liked it, and we found out how it works best on a cloudless day, usually around noon and we're planning on trying it with two magnifying glasses soon, but I think that's gonna be kinda hard and I think I'm rambling on an on so I'll just shut up now."

I lay limply on my stomach in Jazz's hand, making sure not to lay on my back, which would've practically squished ShortCircuit and hurt my back.

"Mmh," I mumbled, "I'm tired." "That's 'cause it's after 10:00 PM, sis," Freefel told me, "And the fact that you've been chased by-and then met- two epic Autobots, all in one night."

"Oh yeeeah," I replied, sounding much like Gir from 'Invader Zim.' Then I inquired of Jazz, "Can I go home now? I'm all tired." "You **are** home," he answered jokingly, and I rolled my eyes with a grin, "You know what I meant, silly Epic One."

"Hmmm," Ironhide muttered, then told me, "You know, I'd love to meet the little toy-scout you have. In fact, why don't you introduce all of them?"

My eyes widened in confusion, "Uh, ok. I'll go get them." "No," Ironhide snapped, "Yer' ...'sibling' can do that."

"Oooookayyy..." Freefel answered suspiciously, "But if you've hurt or taken away Seekjei **or** ShortCircuit by the time I get back, I. Will. **KILL**. You. Even if you **are** one of my favorite Transformers."

I nodded to her from Jazz's hand, "I think the shovels and spinny-blade-thingies are in the shed, in case you need to use them to save me and ShortCircuit." Freefel nodded seriously, then headed back towards the lower roof.

She paused. "Uhh... I need help getting up there," she admitted, sounding embarrassed. Ironhide frowned. But Jazz, still holding me in his hand, walked over, and lifted Freefel up to the roof.

"Thanks, Jazz!" Freefel squeaked, getting all fangirl-y like I had. She nuzzled the Autobot's hand with her head, like a cat, then slithered into our room through the side-window.

"'Spinny-blade-thingies'?" Jazz inquired, and I shrugged. "All those gardening things, like a lawnmower or weedwhacker, or whatever the other things are called. I know they're pointy, but that's about it."

"While she's getting' the lil' ones," Jazz asked me, "How's about you tell us watcha' can about the 'Cons?" I nodded, "Okee dokey."

"Hmmm," I began as Jazz carried me a bit farther away from the house, "Well, ShortCircuit is a... 'disabled' Decepticon, I guess. She can't transform right, and has a really limited comlink and signature-detecting range, and can't speak very loud. That's what she's told me."

ShortCircuit muttered miffedly at me, but didn't get too upset. 'I'm going to tell them about Frenzy and the others now, ok?' I mentally asked her, and she hissed at me agitatedly.

"Look," I reasoned to her aloud, "My telling them what I know isn't going to be much help finding the other 'Cons, so it won't hurt them or anything." "NO!" ShortCircuit protested angrily, "Not tell of Frenzy!"

"I have to," I told her, mentally adding, 'Maybe I can convince them not to try to find or hurt him at all.' "NO!" ShortCircuit repeated.

I twitched in surprise when I heard Starscream adding, "I think you should listen to the malfunction, human. You are not to give away **any** information about us."

"Have. To," I repeated stubbornly, "The Autobots aren't gonna hurt ShortCircuit, and I highly doubt that they'll hurt Frenzy or you either."

I felt something poke my shoulder, and glanced up to see Jazz looking at me questioningly. "Starry- uh, Starscream, doesn't want me to tell you anything," I explained, "Neither does ShortCircuit."

Ironhide rolled his optics, growling, "Then we'll just **remove** the little 'Con, and you can tell us **everything**. How's that sound?"

"NO!" I protested, "Leave her alone! She doesn't want me to tell you anything, 'cause she's worried that you'll hurt her or her brother!" "Brother?" Ironhide asked in surprise, and I heard Starscream growling at me for what I'd blurted out.

I winced, and heard a comlink-noise from ShortCircuit. "Frenzy!" she called, "Frenzy! Warning!" "It what is?" I heard him reply, but it sounded faint. I guess he was far away.

"Human is telling Autobots of us!" ShortCircuit warned frantically, and her brother replied angrily, "What?! Human stupid is! **Want** dead you human the does?!" I sighed in exasperation, "No I do **not** want ShortCircuit dead! I don't want **any**one dead, you ninja-star-throwing little twitchy!"

Hearing this, he started yelling at me in Cybertronian, but then quieted down after a couple seconds, as I heard Barricade telling him to be quiet.

"Frenzy is ShortCircuit's brother," I told Jazz quickly, before Barricade could start yelling at me, which he did, "And he's a 'disabled' 'Con too, because he's small and can't speak well. Just as a side note, he doesn't seem to be very good at climbing pine trees, but he's excellent at snowball-fights. And throwing pinecones."

Jazz's semi-smirk softened for a moment. Hearing about a Decepticon being like a little kid, doing something harmless, must be really different for the Autobots.

Just then, as I realized that Barricade, Frenzy, Starscream, and ShortCircuit were no all yelling and/or growling at me. Screamer was the one growling; he probably knew I wouldn't be able to hear him very well over the others' voices.

Another voice was added-Jazz's- and the others' voices retreated with some startled yelps (ShortCircuit and Frenzy), growls (Barricade), and hisses (Starscream).

"Yo, Screamer," Jazz greeted over the comlink, sounding painfully loud to me. This was met with an icy silence. Jazz continued, unfazed, "Ya' know, we don' plan on hurtin' the lil' ones, 'specially if they just want t' be left in peace." No reply.

"Ev'rybody knows ya' hate Megs," Jazz went on, "Obviously, so do we. Th' 'Bots have lil' ones like the lil' femme 'Con here too."

"Rea-" Starscream began to say, sounding surprised, then stopped. "Yep," Jazz confirmed, "Really." "...Interesting," Starscream stated, and then we heard the comlink go off. Then two more as Barricade and Frenzy 'hung up.' I'd forgotten that they were even listening in!

"Well," Jazz commented brightly, "Tha' went well." I nodded as I saw Freefel climb down from the roof, running over with her arms full of something.

"Hey, minis," Jazz greeted as Freefel placed the things –mini TFs- on the grass. (_Hey, honeyfuu! This is the idea you helped me think of!_)

"Hey!" mini-Ironhide called, "What's up? Freefel says that you think Seekjei's a Decepticon."

"She... isn't?" Ironhide questioned, surprised.

"Of course not!" mini-Movieverse Arcee laughed, "She's most definitely a human. A very strange one, granted, but most certainly a human."

"The only Decepticon staying around here is ShortCircuit," mini-Movieverse Bee added, "And she's not so bad."

"Huh," Ironhide stated. He seemed partially surprised, partially disappointed that I wasn't a Decepticon. Well that's life.

After all of this unusual excitement, I was getting tired. Well, more tired.

"Can I go back inside now?" I asked the Autobots, "I'm tired, and my adrenaline level has gone frzzzzzshyeeewwww-pfit." I lowered one hand, palm down, then flared out my fingers on the "pfit" part.

"Yeah, a'right," Jazz agreed, "But, b'fore ya' go to sleep, couldja' tell us a bit more?"

"Mm. Ok," I replied, "Um, well... Barricade kinda protects Frenzy like a parent or an uncle or something... Uh, Starscream doesn't look like a Dorito, the way he did in the movie... Oh, and Frenzy doesn't look very much like his G1 self, more movieverse-ish. D'you know why? I don't."

Jazz shrugged and answered, "Th' humans who first met us Cybertronians, they asked 'bout the 'Cons, and sometimes, we could only tell 'em names. Usa'lly a bit a' info. When th' humans made tha' first 'series,' G1, they din' have all the info 'bout how some 'Cons r' 'Bots looked."

"So they 'magined how a few looked," he continued, "An' now tha' more're comin' t' his planet, th' humans get more accurate details 'n such. A' course, we sometimes get diff'ren vehicle-modes, like 'Hide, here. We c'n still keep our original ones, an' we use 'em once in a while. Tha' answer yer' question?"

I nodded, "Yeah. Thanks, Jazz. Thank you too, Ironhide, fer' not killing anyone." The Autobots shrugged one huge shoulder.

"Now," Jazz told me mock-sternly, "You get ta' bed now, young lady." I laughed, "Yes, sir!" Jazz placed Freefel, ShortCircuit, and I back on the roof, and Freefel and I waved goodbye as he and Ironhide transformed and drove away.

As I crawled into my bed, I hoped that Starscream hadn't been listening in and overheard that 'Dorito' bit.


	48. Chapter 48

_Hello. As sad news, two of our baby fish died, Izzar and Eso. On happier news, IT'S BEEN SNOWING! At least where I am right now._

_To Mayday200: Yeah, I got the Dorito-reference from another person's fanfic, but I forget which one; there are several!YAY, hooray for the return of chocolate, it is a most marvelous thing indeed! Hmmm, I'm not sure: I think I've read a few, but I always forget some of the fanfics I've read, unless I see them again (And then my brain says, "Hmm, have I read that before? It looks familiar. Oh yyyeeeah, I love that fanfic!"). But I really love "Science and Fiction;" it be hilarious, dark, funny, sad, and epic! Hahaha, VERY funny laugh._

_To Autobot-Bre: Yeah, he might've. Thanks! I will try to update more soon. I've got a sequel to a fanfic that I gotta update as well._

_To Link's Rose: I'm glad I cheered you up with my chapt- Depressed? The finale's depressing? I haven't watched past the middle of the episode with poor, noble Dreadwing, so I know-eth not what does happen. Well, I'm very glad to have made you laugh; I was worrying that my chapters were getting a bit too serious. I'll try!_

_To EHSparkwoman: Yep, probably. Hmm, I think so, 'cause he's been on Earth for a while, and we humans just love our artificial-flavored snacks! Yeah, I like calling him 'Starry' too, unless I'm miffed at him: then I call him 'Screamer.' Yep, they stayed inside with most of the other mini-TFs._

_To Autobot-Blurr 221: Uh… Oh, thank you! I **will** try to update more. Hmm, interesting idea. Ratchet shows up later though. 'Tis a good idea!_

_…I'm back! I just left the computer for a couple minutes to tussle with our ferret, who is both cute and scary, adorable and vicious. She bit between my thumb and pointer-finger enough to make it bleed a tiny bit! For the first time! I'm so proud of our little fuzzy! She is our Nock-shnauf, which is a word my Dad made up. We looked up "noct shnauf," and it means "night gasp" or "night puff" in German! Now, on that random note, on with the story!_

_**WARNING: Anyone who's a fan of Beiber, please do not read this chapter. If you read this chapter, please do not be offended. If you are offended, please do not try to kill me. If you do try to kill me, please do not succeed. If you do succeed, please be aware that my sister, Transformers, and ferret shall then find you and do unspeakably horrible things to you. Have a nice day! :3**_

I woke up. It was still dark outside, which was normal for Wintertime. I was awake at some random time at night, which was semi-normal. (_Who knows, maybe I gots a sleep-disorder or somethin'._)

So why was ShortCircuit yelling in my ears?

"Wha tizzit?" I mumbled, and she huffed exasperatedly, "I is try to wake you, but you was not wake-up! Now you is awake."

"Yeah. But whyyy?" I moan-whined. Why was she waking me up at who-knows-what-time in the night when I needed my sleep?

"Because," ShortCircuit sated, hearing my thought, "Starscream is wanting to yell at- uh, **speak with** you."

"I'm tirrreddd…" I moaned quietly, dropping my head face-first on my pillow.

"I don't **care**, human!" snarled an irritated, slightly gravelly voice. It was unmistakably Starry's.

Sounded like a blend of the voices from 'Armada' Starscream, 'Beast Wars' Dinobot, and the singer of the song "I Hate Everything About You". (_BeastWars-Dinobot and Armada-Starscream are my favorite TF characters ever!_)

"You told those two Autobots about the Decepticons!" Starscream seethed, "How **dare** you tell them anything! I ordered you not to tell them **anything**, and what did you do?!"

"I got them to not kill ShortCircuit," I responded miffedly, "And to feel bad for her and the other small-ish 'Cons."

"You gave away information about us!" Starscream retorted, "And directly after I ordered you **not **to! I am not going to leave this un-punished, human." His aggressive voice sounded a lot closer than it had when I was with the Autobots.

"Why are you threatening me right **now**, Starscream?" I asked long-sufferingly, "Couldn't you have waited until I was fully awake? Or ya' could've just yelled at me right after the Autobots left."

"I did not plan on taking any risks- as **you** did, giving away information- by coming within range of the Autobots' signature-locating ranges," he snapped, "And you would benefit from learning some caution!"

"Why now?" I inquired blandly, "Are you gonna do something to punish me?"

"Hmmm," Starscream sneered, "What do you **think** I'm going to do?"

"Hmmm," I imitated him, then guessed, "Hunt me down and say, 'You can run but you can't hide'? Tell me I'll never see the light of day again? Make me beg for death? Torture me until I just randomly explode for no discernable reason? Force me to watch a Justin Beiber music video? Ok, maybe not that last one; that'd be way too cruel, even for you."

I sensed blank stares coming from my two Decepticon listeners. "Really lousy singer?" I prompted, hoping it'd ring a bell, "Sings like a diseased two-year old girl with no sense of pitch who's been breathing helium? For some reason a bunch of people like him, but most persons mentally vomit whenever they hear his 'singing'?" No response.

"Oh well," I said, shrugged, "Yer' better off not knowing. Now, where were we?"

"I believe," Starscream stated impatiently, "That I was about to say that you are a foolish human, and a traitor for telling the Autobots anything about the Decepticons. Don't you know anything?"

"Yep," I replied, opening the window, "I know that Beiber's a horrifically high-pitched singer, more high pitched that your G1-self. I know that I had to tell the Autobots what little I know about you 'Cons."

"And," I added, climbing out the window, "I know that you're getting closer. Your voice is getting louder, and I hear your engines over the comlink. 'Bout what time do you think you'll get here?"

"Within several minutes," he growled, sounding smug and yet warning.

"Okee dokey then," I answered, mostly-closing the window, "I'll be up in the sky waitin' for ya."

"You're… not going to try to run?" Starscream asked, sounding surprised and faintly confused

"Nah," I replied dismissively, "I'd still have your voice nagging me. Besides, today's Monday. If you kill me, I'll have a legitimate reason to be absent from school for the week."

"If you're **dead**," Starscream reasoned, still sounding befuddled, "You'd be absent from your school **forever**."

"Mm, yeah," I answered, shrugging, "But I'm a fast healer. Try not to kill me all the way, ok? That'd really stink."

_I don't seem to be taking this very seriously, do I? Well, that's what Starscream gets for waking me up so early. Serves him right!_


	49. Chapter 49

_HIII! I'm so sorry for not updating sooner, I've had all this lousy math homework for a couple days, driving me crazy! Or crazy-er. Anywho, on to the reviews!_

_ To __Link's Rose__: Eeep, sorry! I mean no offense to Beiber-fans! I just really dislike the guy's high-pitched girly singing. NO OFFENSE to anyone or anything other than his singing. Thank you for not getting mad! I'm very happy that the rest made you laugh, I hope to make the chapters funny. I shall!_

_ To __Mayday200__: Um. Oh, ok then. YESSSSS, same here! I saw a hilarious TFPrime video of the TFs' reactions to one a' his songs; the link be in de profile of me sis, FireFlare. (I'm speakin' funny 'cause my brain is all twitchitty-twitchy from homework.) Heh heh heh, what does the song of which you speak of be? _

_To __Autobot-Blurr 221__: YAY! Thanks. I'll try to update more soon. Oih, Prowl's ninja-ness is much to be feared! Really? Thanks; I'sd thought that it was one of my more boring chapters... Thanks again!_

_Now, on to the chapter!_

After a few minutes of hovering in the air, way above my home, ShortCircuit and I heard the sound of jet-engines.

(_The Starscream is coming, the Starscream is coming! Haha._)

''Bout time,' I mentally muttered, 'I'm about to either freeze or fall asleep while flying!' ShortCircuit mentally rolled her optics at me as the engine sound grew louder.

I could also hear, from the same direction, wind whooshing over a jet's wings. Hopefully this would not be the last sound I ever heard.

I then decided that if I was going to die, I was going to die with **humor**!

So, I faced the noise, held up my right hand in the 'Spock' gesture, and stated solemnly, "Yo." (_What? It was the only thing I could think of at the time._)

As the Decepticon jet-fighter drew closer by the second, I lost my nerve and closed my eyes tight. In all honesty, I expected Starscream to keep on going and smash into me, thus squishing my bones and organs and causing me to become dead.

Instead, he slowed down and turned juuuust enough for his wing to only **slightly** bruise my innards, causing me to double over, stick to his wing, gasp like a fish, and wheeze, "Gg-ckh-gh-haaaaack..."

Starscream and ShortCircuit somehow found this to be amusing.

So, after returnin oxygen to my lungs where it belongs, I growled at them in a very-much-miffed way. Then I scootched my way across the wing and into the cockpit, which Starscream had opened for me.

"Thank you for denting my organs" I told Starscream flatly, and he growled back at me.

"I am perfectly capable of destroying you, human," he informed me.

"Good to know," I replied, nodding, "Are you going to?"

"That depends..." he growled slowly, "Are you going to keep giving the Autobots information regarding myself and the other Decepticons?"

I paused, thought for a bit, then responded, "If I have to tell them stuff, I won't lie."

"Rrrhg, don't e**ver** give information to the enemy!" Starscream snarled at me, "Understand?" I shrugged.

"...Well?" he prompted, apparently not noticing my shrugging.

"I don't even **know** that much about any of you," I told him, "Except ShortCircuit. And besides, the Autobots aren't my enemy. They're famous for **protecting** humans. The Decepticons are famous for **hating** humans. 'Cause we're all squishy and small and annoying and weird. And stuff. Personally, I kinda agree. And I think it's just really amazing and cool that you all exist. I like hanging out with you."

I heard Starscream make an exasperated noise, and then without warning, he tilted upside down and the cockpit opened!

"AAAAAAAA!" I screamed as I tumbled out, hearing ShortCircuit screaming as well. Terrified of going 'splat,' I stretched out ShortCircuit's wings in an effort to stay aloft.

After some aerial somersaulting, cartwheeling, and much accidental smacking-myself-with-my-flailing-limbs, we got our balance and surged upwards.

It **hurt**! ShortCircuit had thick wires firmly embedded in my sides and ribs, to make sure she wouldn't accidentally fall off during flight. Well, those wires saved or lives, but also **hurt** as the rushing air yanked up our wings, pulling the wires tight.

Furious, rattled, and grimacing at the pain, we flew back up to where Starscream was flying, hovering in roughly one spot.

"Hm," he stated blandly as we reached him, "You're alive."

"**NOOO**," I yelled sarcastically, still furious, "Actually, we didn't make it, and now we're ghosts, coming back to **haunt** you! OOOOOOO!" I wiggled my fingers in the air ridiculously, then threw my arms up in disgust, "BLAH!"

Then I shook my head irritably, "I don't even believe in that anyway. So yeah, no **kidding**, genius, we're** alive**!"

I wondered if Starscream could see my expression in the dark: unbelievably annoyed, incredulous, wide-eyed, twitching, and insane.

It would've been hilarious if ShortCircuit and I hadn't almost died moments before.

I could hear a laugh in Starscream's voice as he finally replied, after a pause, "You are quite a tenacious little human. I think I just might let you live-" –"Wow, **thanks**," I snapped sarcastically,- "-If you can remember to finally do what I say."

"**Yeeaah**, sure thing, **Megatron**," I snapped as Starscream started flying away.

He stopped dead when he heard that, and made a sort of strained, choked gagging noise for a second.

"Sorry," I whispered in apology, realizing I'd gone too far.

"Do **not**..." Starscream hissed, his voice still choked, "**ever**...compare me... to him."

"Ok," I whispered, and Starscream flew away, and the air made a 'boom'ing sound as he blasted away, faster than I'd thought possible.

'I have to do something nice for him,' I decided, stunned. Then ShortCircuit and I coasted back down toward home.


	50. Chapter 50

_Hi!_

_To __Mayday200__: Ah, well, I'm sure it's interesting! Aw, thanks!_

_To __Link's Rose__: Hahaha, I'm so glad it made you laugh; I started laughing when I first wrote it!_

_To __Blackhooves__: Eh, Starry wasn't really in the mood for the factions-discussion at that point, he was too miffed at Seekjei. I __**do**__ like that idea though: neutral Decepticons. Tis marvelous! Aw, thanks soooo much! Hahaha. Xanth? What/ who/where is Xanth? Sounds like a name for a dragon in "Dragonriders Of Pern."Thanks for reviewing!_

_To __Autobot-Bre__: Yay! Thanks. Yes, very wise advise._

_To __Autobot-Blurr 221__: Huh?! Why you hit da Screamer? Ah, thank you for the explanation, Jazz. But please, __Autobot-Blurr 221__, do not be too mean to Starry; it's not his fault he's miff-y! Ok then, I need Starry back for this here chapter; thank you._

_To __EHSparkwoman__: Yeah, I know better than to compare him to Megatwit now. Very good point: __I__ certainly wouldn't want to be compared to him! Well, they don't know the Decepticons' locations, or really major info about their individual weaknesses yet. Oh, you'll see. I'll do something nice for Starry even if he doesn't want me to!_

_And now, the chapter!_

I replaced the windowscreen, closed the window, and collapsed onto my bed. I was exhausted, and it'd taken ShortCircuit and I a couple minutes to get back down to the house, because of how high up we'd been flying.

Now, at last, I could sleep, get some rest- BINGBONG BINGBONG! BONGBING BINGBONG! -...And hear my alarm clock go off.

"Gaaaah!" I yelled in frustration, and then moaned, "UunnnhhHH! I'm so ti**rrrrred**!" Then, like the determined little crazy person that I am, I got up, turned off the alarm clock, and started getting dressed for school.

Yes. After meeting two giant deadly semi-friendly robots, confronting and getting yelled at by a giant deadly **flying** robot, and almost falling to my death, I had to go to school.

Reality just loves to whack me in the face sometimes, doesn't it?

So I continued getting dressed, while ShortCircuit grumbled at me from under my bed (where she would most likely sleep for half the day) and Freefel blissfully slept on.

I don't know if I've mentioned this, but she seems to have inherited the 'I-won't-wake-up-from-a-freakishly-loud-alarm-clock-attack-or-my-sister-yelling' genes that I am apparently missing. Ah well.

I grumbled to myself as I got ready for school, "School is evil, I hate school, I'm so tired, I hate school, I hate it so much, I need my sleep, if there was a Transformer who transformed into a school then it'd be the most evil Transformer in all of existance, I hope there isn't one because then I might've just insulted them, Gah I hate schoooooollllll..."

Tired and miffed, I crawled back under my bed covers to get a a couple minutes of rest. And then my dad was waking me up about fifteen minutes later, telling me to come eat breakfast.

...Grrrrr.

Oh how I despise Mondays of ssssschoooolllllll... Yeah, I even said "school" with a hiss.

The day went by slowly. Way too slow for it to even be scientifically possible. But, at least the day was brightened by how wet and rainy it was outside. I just love the rain. Nice clean wet-leaves smell, exciting thunder and lightning sometimes, dark outside...

If I was a cat I'd purr. Ah, what do I care- Purrrrr!

My joyful rain-mood was ruined by homework though, which caused my miffed-ness to return with a vengeance.

And so it was that when the day ended and our parents announced that we had to go to bed, I was thrilled. Finally I would be able to get some sleep!

Ah, but alas, it was not to be. At around 1:20 AM, I was awakened by a nervous ShortCircuit, poking my shoulder with one pointy claw. I moaned quietly, then sat up and blinked at her blearily in the dark.

ShortCircuit jumped up onto my bed and attached herself to my spine, fitting her headphone-head around my ears.

"Whaaa-aaat?" I whined, then asked in a suddenly deadpan voice, "Is it another one of Starscream's death-threats? 'Cause if it is, I'd rather he carry it out while I'm at school dealing with some boring math-lecture. That'd make class a bit moe interesting."

I wasn't that surprised when Mr. Infamously-Screechy-Voice himself answered.

"No," replied the amused voice of said-Decepticon, "But I have something for the malfunction." "Please don't call her that," I automatically responded, "And what is it?"

"Something that will interest you both." His voice sounded louder and closer.

"Ahhck," I muttered, "Starry, my brain is working even less than usual at this moment; please just tell us."

Starscream cackled, a noise that actually sounded pretty cool, "Another little defect!"

"What?!" I asked, waking up more, then remembering to stay quiet, "You mean, you found another small-ish Decepticon? One like ShortCircuit?" At the same time, ShortCircuit was asking almost exactly the same thing.

"Yes and yes!" Starscream answered smugly, sounding even closer, "Now come and retrieve him." Just then, we heard a whoosh of air outside. I whipped open the curtains of our front window just in time to spot the glowing engines of a jet-fighter soaring away.

"Thank you so much, Starry," I told him as I scrambled to open the window above the lower roof, "You're the best!" There was a surprised silence, but I forgot about it as I removed the window screen and slid clumsily out onto the lower roof.

"How far?" I asked ShortCircuit, and she mentally shrugged. I guess her energy-signature location range didn't reach far enough.

"If you humans were not so utterly blind in the dark," Starscream informed me smugly, "Then you would be able to see the little malfunction from where you are now."

I winced, a bit startled at his voice, and rather uncomfortable that he knew where I was at the moment. Meaning that he knew where I lived. Well, I knew all along that he'd find out easily by following ShortCircuit's energy-signature of course, but it was still kind of disconcerting.

I opened our wings, spread them to their full length in a nice long stretch, and we fluttered down into the front yard. We landed with a faint thump, and I straightened up, trying to see if I could spot the small-ish Decepticon that Starscream had spoken of.

I tried to find him by sound, but I heard distracting noises all around: from dead leaves, the wind, my own feet shifting in the grass, etc.

I inched forward, trying to see in the dark, middle-of the night yard. ShortCircuit suggested calling something in Cybertronian, to get the other to answer.

Since I didn't know any Cybertronian words, she told me how to say, "Where are you?" It took me almost a minute to say the entire sentence, because I kept messing up the words or forgetting them entirely.

Finally though, a nervous voice called back, and a small figure crept out from behind a house across the street.

ShortCircuit gasped in surprise and delight, recognizing the voice, "Blindside!"


	51. Chapter 51

_Hi! I've been obsessively reading "Phantom Of The Opera" fanfics. ...Soooo now I'm a Trans fan and a Phantom fan. A Trans Phan Fan? I dunno. I'm also totally obsessed with the TFP Arcee and Starscream pairing. __**Starscream:**__ Yay! __**Me:**__ Be quiet or I shall hurt you for killing Cliffjumper. __**Starscream:**__ Meep! *makes adorable, scared pleading face* __**Me:**__ Don't do that. It makes me want to huggle you. __**Starscream:**__ Then I will keep doing this. If you are huggling me, then you can not hurt me. __**Me:**__ Are you sure about that? __**Starscram:**__ ...Nooo... __**Me: **__He's just so cute! __**Starscream**__: Yay! __**Me**__: Be quiet or I shall hurt you for killing Cliffjumper! *turns to readers* You see how cvery onflicted I am? Now, the reviews._

_To __Link's Rose__: Yay, I be muchly muchly glad indeed that you found the chapter interesting! I shall try my best to update soon!_

_To __Autobot-Blurr 221__: Aww, sorry, but I didn't want poor Screamy getting __**TOO**__ hurt, for you are a fanfiction-writer of much epicness and could thus do some serious damage. Gah! No Ratchet, don't sedate her! She has to be awake to go on Fanfiction! Thanks, 'Blurry and Jazz!_

_To __Autobot-Bre__: Yay! Well... not... exactly... But yeah, they could be called mini 'Cons, technically. I wanted to call 'em that at first, but the TransformersArmada series already has Minicons. Yes, next update then._

_Now, the chappy-ter!_

'What?' I mentally asked ShortCircuit, who I could feel flashing, shimmering waves of excitement and joy emanating from.

"Blindside!" she repeated, sounding thrilled, "Amazing that him is alive! Is friend!" Then she eagerly detached from my spine (_It was scary how fast I'd gotten used to that sentence_) and chirped happily to the other little Decepticon.

He raised his head in surprise and said something very cautiously in Cybertronian. ShortCircuit trilled happily, which seemed to reassure her friend.

From what I could see in the dark, he was a bit taller than Shortircuit, maybe 5 ½ feet tall. Most of him seemed to be a dull gray coloration with dull blue on his sides and front, and he had silvery optics, which didn't glow as much as ShortCircuit's blue ones.

He also had faint gold colors down the center of his head, on the tops of his arms and shoulders, and the front of his thin legs, which ended in small, flattish little toe-claws, shining gold on the tips.

He seemed nervous, turning his head around like a dog catching a scent, and he pointed vaguely in my direction. Blindside said something to ShortCircuit in Cybertronian, and she crooned comfortingly, touching her head to his arm.

He said something else, and ShortCircuit nodded, then motioned for me to come nearer. I did, and ShortCircuit stroked her hand along her friend's arm, then scrambled up onto my back so that she could talk with me.

"It be more easy to speak with if Blindside speak English," she told me. "Yup," I answered, "But how? Can he just download the language the way he Autobots did in the movie?"

"Yes," ShortCircuit surprised me by answering, "All Cybertronians able to hear is able to learn language by fast download. Blindside is needing to know what language."

"English," I told him. He flinched back for a second at my voice, looking even more nervous. "Say 'Language is English,' in Cybertronian," ShortCircuit told me, then showed me how to say it.

I did, after some lousy first tries, and the little Decepticon paused in his nervous fidgeting for a moment.

"Iiis... this... r-right?" he inquired hesitantly. I nodded.

No response.

"**Say** things," ShortCircuit instructed me, so I told Blindside, "Yeah. Good job."

He responded, after an uncertain pause, "Thank you. You are a... human?" "Yes," I answered, "But it's ok. I'm a friend. I know ShortCircuit, so you don't have to be scared. She told me that your name was Blindside. Right?"

"Yes," he responded dully, sounding unhappy and as if he were holding back a sigh. "What's wrong?" I inquired, "Are you hurt? Is it too dark out here or something? We could go inside and turn on a light."

"N-no thank you," Blindside responded, sounding timid and afraid, "That would... not make a difference to me."

"Wha... What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"Lights do not make a difference to me," he explained quietly, "I can not see. That is why I was given the name Blindside in this language."

"What?" I gasped, "You mean, you get names based on your... disabilities?"

"Yes," Blindside stated bleakly, unseeing silver optics dull.

At almost the same time, ShortCircuit gave a joyless laugh in my head, "Why you think I is named 'ShortCircuit'? It mean to have error, to have something wrong with. In Cybertronian, my name mean glitch or mistake. But us is used to these reminders -names- now."

"I'm so sorry!" I told them both, "No one should be forced to be named after something that's imperfect about them. If anything, I think that your names sound really cool, and exciting!"

"...Thank you," Blindside murmured, echoed mentally by ShortCircuit.

"So!" I stated, "Would you like to come inside my house to rest? You might be tired from everything that's happened, I guess, with Starscream dropping you off here."

Blindside agreed, saying that he had landed on a large, circular, bouncy, flat thing with netting around it when Starscream had –literally- **dropped him** off, so he hadn't been injured.

"Well that's... good," I muttered, feeling a safety lecture starting in the back of my mind. Which I ignored as I unsafely helped an unsafe alien robot unsafely climb onto our unsafe lower roof, and unsafely through our unsafe window.

Safety first, ha!


	52. Chapter 52

_Hello! Not much to say, so, on to the reviews!_

_To __Link's Rose__: You would be correct; it __**is**__ a trampoline! Yay, Im glad it's funny. Sorry for the shortness. I'll try!_

_To __Autobot-Bre__: Yeah, he is. Yay, I'll try to update more soon!_

_To __Mayday200__: AW, oh no! I hope that you'll be able to log in soon! Yay, I'm so glad that you like him!_

_To __EHSparkwoman__: Yippee! I suppose it might be rather difficult, but I see 'em as being in a sort of tentative relationship, like trying to hate one another but kinda liking one another when they meet up. Yes, I feel bad for the little 'Cons, too. Aww, they thank you for your hug! Yep, it it at some points._

_And now... THE CHAPTER!_

Once back inside my our room, I felt my exhaustion return, and had to stop myself from flopping onto my bed to fall asleep. Instead, I forced myself to see how Blindside and ShortCircuit were.

"Are you tired?" I whispered, not wanting to wake up Freefel, even though she manages to sleep through our alarm clock most of the time.

"No," Blindside answered quietly, though I couldn't tell if his quietness was from caution or his apparent timidity.

I mushed my palms blearily into my face and asked, "Would you like to explore our house or talk or anything?"

Blindside hunched his shoulders, head down, "Either way."

I frowned and gently placed my hand on his shoulder. He flinched slightly at my touch, looking –if possible- even more afraid and nervous.

"It's ok," I murmured sincerely, "It's ok. Nobody's going to hurt you; I promise. I'm not going to be unhappy at you for saying anything. It's ok."

He nodded, still nervous, like a small puppy who's been abused all is life. Maybe he had been... ShortCircuit silently confirmed this with memories of when they were back on Cybertron.

Blindside, who'd always been cautious by nature, was as much a target for punishment as the other 'malfunctions' were, if not more. He'd been the twin of Lighter, who had tried to protect him from Megatron, and was later punished with death.

I made an involuntary, whimpering squeak at this, then mentally begged ShortCircuit to come off of my spine and give poor Blindside a hug for me.

She did this quite willingly, and I saw a teeny half-smile flit across Blindside's face, which was reflecting the glow of ShortCircuit's optics.

After a minute, I whispered quietly, "If you want, you can stay with ShortCircuit here in my family's house, for as long as you'd like. I don't want to be rude or anything, but I have to go to sleep now, so I can't really help out with anything."

ShortCircuit bobbed her head up and down, trilling quietly, and pointed to herself. "You wanna show Blindside around?" I asked, and she nodded. "Ok. If our parents find you and freak out, just tell 'em that you're friends of Seekjei. See you i-... Um. Well, I'll check on how you are in the morning. 'Night."

So ShortCircuit and Blindside quietly crept out of our room, and I burrowed myself into my bedcovers, unbelievably grateful for the chance to get some sleep.

This marvelous, much-needed rest lasted less than three hours, since Freefel woke me up around 4:00 in the morning.

"Whaaatt?" I hiss-whispered at her.

"I woke up," she told me, sounding worried, "and I thought I heard something downstairs. Do you think th-"

"NO," I growled at her, still miffed at being woken up, "Not a burglar 'r whatever. S' ShortCircuit an' Blindside. He's another 'Con an' she's showing 'im 'round. Now lemme sleeeeeeeeepppp."

Of course, this just caused Freefel to wake up more, and start asking questions and complaining about how she never gets included in anything exciting.

Instead of answering her questions, I simply growled and went back to sleep. And to then wake up two hours later to get up for school.

I moaned jokingly to ShortCircuit and Blindside while doing my chores, "Man, is this how neutral Transformers become 'Cons? They get woken up too often until they just snap?"

The pair chuckled a bit, and Blindside, who'd gotten a bit less skittish, replied that a lot of the bigger Decepticons sure did **act** like it.

I agreed to leave ShortCircuit at home from school so that she could continue catching up with Blindside on everything that'd happened, and advised them to speak with the mini-TFs, who'd be excited to meet Blindside.

Freefel was thrilled to meet Blindside, and was just as miffed as me when we had to leave to go to school, that eeevil place of boredom and homework-giving.

When we got back, I'd been worried that my advice about mini-TFs had been a bad idea, and was expecting some of the Autobot-minis to be practically homicidal, especially Movieverse-Arcee.

Instead, they were all getting along rather well. The mini-TFs felt really bad for the 'malfunctions,' and had provided company and sympathy for the two. In return, Blindside gave them updates on what had been happening on Cybertron and other planets that he knew of.

Freefel was excited to meet Blindside for the first time too. She hadn't met him that morning because he'd been hiding. Being the insane little fruitcake that she is, Freefel hugged Blindside the moment she saw him.

I chuckled a bit, and was pleased to get a better look at the little 'Con in the light. The dull gray blurred nicely into silver, and the blue-ish armor was actually a beautiful indigo color.

And, by the time that 24 hours had passed, none of us had been chased, yelled at, or almost captured by any giant Transformers. A relief, but almost disappointing.

Until ShortCircuit woke me up Wednesday night, informing me that there were one or more Cybertronians right near our house.

Would I NEVER get a full night of sleep without being stalked by Transformers?!

But I still loved it.


	53. Chapter 53

_Halloo! Our family recently adopted another adorable little furball of a ferret, and she and our fuzzy chase one another a lot! It's sooo cute!_

_To __Autobot- Bre__: Thanks! Oh, you'll see, just wait. 8) And thanks for reviewing!_

_To __sparkhazard__: Oh, thank you so much! Ooooh, that's be great! And so funny! Hahaha, yeah, I think he would! Ratchet will be in my story, I promise. Cool name, by the way. And thank you very much for reviewing!_

I glanced at the digital alarm clock, located on a small shelf a couple feet from the foot of my bed. The red numbers glowed steadily; 10:00PM.

I sighed, then whispered pleadingly, "ShortCircuit, are you **really** sure that you sense more energy-signatures nearby?"

ShortCircuit, connected to my back confirmed it with a mental **and** out-loud shout of, "YES!"

"Well thank you so much for rupturing my eardrums," I told her matter-of-factly. Just then, Blindside awoke from where he was recharging in the closet.

"Seekjei," he whispered, "There are two Autobot energy-signatures very close by! They are both staying still, possibly on the road, slightly to the West of the front of your house."

Wow. Accurate.

I felt a smugness at being correct emanating from ShortCircuit, along with a mix of slight jealousy and pride for her friend as she sensed my unspoken admiration.

I sighed, sending ShortCircuit a mental reassurance of my appreciation for her as well, and she sent back a pleased little chirp.

Then I thanked Blindside for his alerting us further, and I snuck over towards Freefel's bed, where she was sleeping, blissfully unaware of what I was about to do.

I grabbed my sister's shoulders in both hands, shook her vigorously, and yell-whispered in her ear, "SSHHHHHH!"

Freefel moan-yelped in protest and pulled away, staring at me as if I were sane. (_Since we're both insane, sanity is crazy to us._)

"You said that you didn't want to be left out of all the fun," I told her, "Now **UP**!"

Calming down, Freefel groggily pushed herself up on one arm and asked, "Wass goin' on? Who's it?" In reply, I bit her on the wrist, which irritated her enough that she got out of bed.

(_WARNING:_ _Don't try this at home. Your sibling/whoever-it-is just may slap or possibly bite you back. And it shall hurt. Of course, I'm an insane, untrained semi-professional at this, so I know what I'm doing, more or less._)

"Don't bite me!" Freefel yell-whispered in my face. "But I shall!" I responded, "For I take pleasure in your annoyance at me!" Then I ducked to avoid her well-aimed slap.

Quickly, I scurried away from my glowering sister and over to the window, shoving it open and handing the screen to Freefel.

She placed it on her bed as I slithered out the window -with ShortCircuit still attached to my spine- and onto the roof. There, I turned around carefully, and noticed that Blindside looked slightly confused.

"What are we doing?" he inquired, perplexed, "Are we retreating? Are Freefel and I to follow you both?" "If you want to follow us, then I'd love for you to come," I told him, "But no, we aren't retreating. ShortCircuit and I are going to go say 'hi' to the 'Bots."

I felt ShortCircuit's begrudging acceptance of this fact, and noticed Blindside's utterly horrified expression.

"But..." he whispered, looking shocked and terrified, "But they will kill you! The Autobots will kill ShortCircuit and you!"

"No no no," I promised, "They won't. It's ok. We've met two of them before, and it's ok. They promised not to hurt her."

Blindside's expression was one of pure misery.

"Promises are not always kept," he pleaded, pale silvery optics glowing faintly in distress.

"This promise **is** kept," I assured him, "And will be enforced. I'm not going to let a**nyone** hurt you or ShortCircuit. It'll be ok." ShortCircuit trilled a reassuring agreement.

"Wanna come?" I asked, and Blindside recoiled. Then he hesitantly stepped closer.

"I may be able to be a... look-out," he offered, looking almost pained at his word-choice, "I can listen, and detect where the energy-signatures are."

"That's a good idea," I told him, "Thank you." "I'll be a look-out too," Freefel told me, "That way, I can watch the action from a distance. And throw stuff if necessary."

"Thanks," I laughed, then fluttered off the roof, landing with a soft 'thump' on the cool grass of the front lawn. It was a good thing that we lived in a quiet, small neighborhood, and not a crowded city.

'Which way exactly?' I mentally asked ShortCircuit, and she indicated over to my right. I could just barely see two vehicles parked there near a telephone pole, and I ran lightly towards them, trying to tread quietly.

"Human." I jumped at the sudden voice, and whipped my head around to look for the source. No one was nearby. Besides, the voice was familiar and had come from ShortCircuit's comlink.

Oh great.

"What, Screamer?" I asked bluntly, keeping my voice low.

"Do **not** call me that."

"Ok, fine. What, Starry?"

"You are **not** to go near those two Autobots. I have ordered you before- repeatedly- not to tell them anything."

"Man, how far away are you? Your voice isn't as close as usual, but you can tell that I'm approaching two Autobots?"

"Yes. Seekers have very large signature-location ranges. Now, do **not** change the subject."

"Yeah, yeah, sure thing, **dad**," I chuckled, rolling my eyes. Starscream growled at me as I reached the two Autobots, then quieted, probably so he could listen in.

"Hello," I addressed the two politely, secretly glad that both were sleek and light-colored, and not an aggressive GMC Topkick.

"'Sup, lil' femme?" asked one, the easily-recognizeable-voiced Jazz.

"Nothin' much," I replied instinctively, then remembered that Blindside was at our house, which would certainly be newsworthy, "Um... Do you want to come into the backyard? It's easier to hide there."

"Yeah," replied the other, "Le-e-e-et's go." I wondered at the voice, then shrugged and lead the way to the backyard, to where I'd officially met Jazz and Ironhide... how long ago? Less than a week? Wow.

Once there, the two Autobots transformed, and one of them stretched a bit, before turning to look at me with big, light blue optics.

Jazz spoke first, "Hey, we were cruisin' 'round, an' picked up some more a' them 'Con energy signatures fer' a bit. 'Membered you an' yer' lil' 'Con friend were here. Now, why's there an extra 'Con signature here?" he questioned, pointing towards the lower roof on the other side of the house.

"That would be-" I started to say, but was cut off by Starscream hissing over the comlink at me. "What?" I hissed back at him under my breath, "Telling them his **name** is so dangerous that it might give you a heart-attack or something?"

"..." There was a miffed silence.

"Anyway," I stated, turning my attention back to the Autobot, "The energy signature is coming from Blindside. He's another small 'defect,' like ShortCircuit, and just got here a day-well, night, or two ago. He's really shy, and scared that any Autobots will try to hurt him and ShortCircuit, so he's keeping watch with my sister on the roof."

"Well that would expl-l-l-lain it," the other Autobot acknowledged, "We'd been wondering what those two sha-a-a-a-apes were."

"Yeah," I stated, nodding. Small awkward silence. "Um, who are you, by the way?"

"Oh, I'm hurt," he responded melodramatically, "**All** the fans recognize me, ev-v-v-v-ven when I'm in vehicle mode!"

"It's dark out!" I defended myself, sounding slightly whiny, "And I'm tired! My brain works even **more** less good when I'm tired!"

"I see that," he replied, "Jazz to-o-o-o-old me that your name is Seekjei, right?"

"Yep. Seekjei I is."

"Well, Seekjei, I am Bumblebee."


	54. Chapter 54

_Yo! What up? Nothing much happening around here. Just watched some good "Doctor Who." ...That's just about it. Anyway, on to them reviews!_

_To __Link's Rose__: Haha, yes, yes he is. Ehhhmmm, ok, is that a spasm attack from the cuteness? My sis does that with the keyboard a lot. This is gonna (hopefully) be a funny chapter, so I hopes ya be likin' it!_

_To __EHSparkwoman__: He's talking normally; you'll see why he sounds that way soon. Worry not: I shan't! Or at least, I'll try to not. Hey, Megatwit! __**Megatron**__: WHAT? __**Me**__: Wanna play hide-and-seek with the mini Decepticons? Try looking over there! *points in opposite direction of the mini Decepticons*_

_Uund nohw, zeh chahppee-terr. Sorry, weird accent. And now, the chappy-ter._

"Whaaa?" I exclaimed in astonishment, "You're **Bee**?! Oh my goodness, this is so cool! I keep meeting some of the most awesome Transformers- I mean Cybertronians- ever! You're the star of the entire first movie! The recent CGI one I mean, not the G1 version where some of the best characters die within the first minute or something."

"Isn-n-n-n't the Witwicky boy the star?" Bumblebee inquired, but it sounded like he was just testing my fangirl-ness.

"Ha!" I laughed derisively, "No, he's the human who runs around and freaks out and worries about how the Autobots might somehow affect his social life or something. The whole point of the movie is the Transformers themselves! Or, it should be. And should've had way less dying.

Can't believe the director killed off so many characters. And then, one of the few capable humans, Mikaela, is replaced with the girly twit Carly. Not ONE HAIR out of place! Not a single wound! Thinks the business dude is giving away a free car just because! Honestly, I've read **far** better Fanfictions..."

I trailed off as I realized that I was rambling on and on, so I stopped, feeling embarrassed. I couldn't believe I'd just gone on a complaining fangirl-rant while talking with two of the best Autobots EVER!

I'd become quite the chatterbox lately.

I noted that Jazz was smirking at my fangirl-ish outburst, and Bumblebee might've been smiling too, but I'd only just met him and it was harder to tell.

ShortCircuit meanwhile, was enjoying seeing my memories of the different Transformers movies, as well as my opinion of them

"Heh," I chuckled for a second, then asked Bumblebee, "So, um, how come you can talk? In the movie, you couldn't, and had to use the radio."

The gold Autobot rolled his glowing blue optics, "You humans tend-d-d-d to exaggerate things, especially in your movies-z-z-z-z."

"Yeh," Jazz added, "Tha' talkin' through th' radio idea a' the humans s' pretty neat. But Bee's jest got a recent injury tha' still needs some fixin' up an' natural repairin.' I s'pose th' humans thought it'd be more innerestin' t' have 'im mute in their movie. Like 'e said, you humans love t' exaggerate."

"Ohhh, ok," I replied, nodding in understanding, and then in realization, "Oh! So **that's** why Starscream looks like an absurdly triangle-ish giant silvery Dorito in the movie; he only looks **faintly** triangle-y-ish in real life. The movie-people got the pointy claws and cockpit pretty much correct though."

I heard Starscream hissing at me over ShortCircuit's comlink at my comment. It wasn't a quick hiss, like a cat, it was slow and drawn out, like a very miffed snake, making the irritated hiss much more sinister and epic somehow.

I hissed back at him mockingly, then remembered that I had two Autobots watching me. Well, staring now. And I was probably back on Screamer's kill-list. Oh well, nothing to lose.

"Eh... Heh heh," I laughed nervously, "So, um, what's up? Can we- ShortCircuit and I- help you out with anything?"

"Well," Jazz mentioned with a shrug, "Ya **did** agree earlier t' tell us more 'bout the 'Cons, y'know."

"Oh, ok," I agreed, "Sure thing." I winced at the infuriated screech from Starscream as I willingly agreed to blatantly disobey his order.

"I don't actually know that much about the individual Decepticons, or what their plans are," I apologized to the Autobots, an apology that, at the same time, was a reassurance to Starscream that I couldn't do any harm.

'Sneaky,' ShortCircuit mentally praised me, to which I responded with a silent, 'Thanks.'

"I **do** know that Starscream is helping out the littler, 'defective' 'Cons," I continued, wincing at a slightly quieter –though far more indignant- screech from Starscream.

"And, because you said that the little ones should be protected," I added quickly, still cringing as Starscream screech quieted into growling, "Then maybe that means that Starscream could be your ally?"

The comlink went suddenly dead silent.

Bumblebee made an uncertain grimace-face, and Jazz looked contemplative.

'Good, good idea!' ShortCircuit agreed mentally, making sure Starscream couldn't overhear across her comlink, 'Then is no need for fighting or killing of him or Autobots!'

'Are you starting to like them?' I asked her in thought, to which she replied, 'No. But I is agreeing that is not good to fight. Allies is better than enemies.'

'Good point,' I thought to her, then told the Autobots what she'd said, adding, "Starscream stopped ShortCircuit and me from falling out of a tree, so he's not really that bad. At least when he isn't miffed. And, as everyone knows, he hates Megatwit. As do the Autobots"

Jazz gave a half nod, half shrug sort of gesture, the kind that means, 'Eh. I guess.'

Reluctantly, Bumblebee spoke up, "The en-n-n-nemy of my enemy is my... not-so-bad-d-d-d enemy." I made a wry face at the changed quote, but said nothing.

"Welllll," Jazz mused, an amused tone in his voice, " Sounds like an innerestin' idea. Though I doubt Screamer'd want t' join the 'Bots anytime soon."

I heard a disgusted "hmph!" from the comlink.

"Probably not," I allowed, "But still, it's worth a shot, right?"

Jazz grinned, "I s'pose we could talk with Prime 'bout it. Why doncha' come along?"

I jumped up and down, bunching up my arms and squealing ecstatically, "Yesyesyes yes YES!" I paused for a second, then asked timidly, "Could my sister, Freefel, please come too? She's been dying to meet more of you guys."

"I don' see why not," Jazz answered with a grin, "You go an' bring her an' the other lil' 'Con here, a'right?"

"Sure!" I agreed, "Be right back!" I then raced over toward the other side of the house.

"Freefel! Blindside!" I called, and both crawled from the front of the roof to where I was in the back. "C'mon!" I told them excitedly, "You get to come along! We're gonna go see more Autobots –maybe even Optimus himself- so we can get Starry to join forces."

Blindside looked as if the thought of being around Autobots made him physically ill, and he shook his head, "It could be a trap."

"But it isn't," I told him insistently, "The 'Bots could've killed ShortCicuit and I when we first met them, but they didn't. They could've killed us –and you two- now, but they didn't."

Blindside didn't look convinced, and Freefel looked regretful that she'd be unable to come, because she'd have to stay home keeping Blindside calm.

"I can't leave 'im all alone," my sister sighed, "And I **guess** it's true; he might not be very safe there. Not **all** of the 'Bots are super friendly all the time."

"Ironhide isn't here," I stated.

Blindside relaxed slightly, and Freefel dropped the Rapid-Fire Nerf dart gun that she'd been holding.

"Take me to their leader!" she laughed.


	55. Chapter 55

_Hiii! Four more of our baby fish, named Ashi, Urvi Revai,_ _and Aradi , have died, so I'm sad, and I dedicate this chapter to them. But now I'm updating, and lots of nice people have reviewed, so now I'm much happier. Oh, aaaaannnddd... It's winter vacation! At least where I am in the country that I do reside upon. Can a person __**really**__ live __**inside**__ of a country? 'Cause if they did, they'd be inside of the continent or island or whatever it is. So that'd mean that people actually live __**on**__ countries! So. Yeah._

_Sorry I haven't updated sooner! There was a problem with the laptop, and then I couldn't find it, and I've been watching "Doctor Who" all day. Weeping angels, yikes! I'm glad I don't go to church or other places with lots of statues, or I'd start shrieking! ...Anyway!_

_To __Link's Rose__: Hahaha, yay, I'm glad you like it. Yes she certainly is. Erm, I don't read or watch that series, because I don't believe in and spells and sorcery and that sort of thing. Anywho, thanks very much fer' the review!_

_To __Corona Pax__: Hello! Hahaha, I'd probably be too afraid that he would squish me with his giant wrenches of Ratchet-y epicness. Cool username by the way. Thanks for reviewing!_

_To __Blackhooves__: Yay, I be so very muchly glad ya like it! Heh heh, I was pleased by that episode's ending... *grins evilly*... Really? Cool! I shall read it and review when I can!_

_To __Mayday200__: Hahaha, I was hoping that people would find it funny, so I'm really glad that you do, so thanks!_

_And now, this chappy-ter!_

After Freefel quit squealing in delight at meeting Bumblebee, the 'Bot offered to let her and Blindside ride with him on the way to the Autobots. Freefel was ecstatic, and eagerly agreed.

Blindside was terrified though, and his silvery optics were flickering from dark gray to bright white and back again. This was something that ShortCircuit had told me was an indication of a Cybertronian's fear or strong emotion, and poor Blindside's optics were flickering like crazy.

Freefel and ShortCircuit managed to calm him down a teensy bit, by a multitude of reasoning and explain-y sentences. How?

By both of them reassuring him that the Autobots didn't want to hurt him or ShortCircuit. By Freefel informing him that the Autobots wouldn't try to harm him or her and risk harming the two nut cases (Freefel and me) who were nearby. And by ShortCircuit stroking his almost non-existent ego by reminding him of his exceptional signature-location abilities.

I'd not been aware of these said-abilities, but didn't say anything, seeing as I was **not** good at calming him down. **I** was the one who'd sort of gotten us into this situation in the first place, and ShortCircuit told me that thusly and unsurprisingly, Blindside blamed **me** for it.

Not that he'd intentionally show it, because he was still too frightened of getting punished. But ShortCircuit had known him for a long time and could tell when he was secretly miffed at someone. Being his close friend, ShortCircuit was frequently miffed at whoever Blindside was miffed at, and was usually much more outspoken about it.

'Same thing with me and Freefel,' I mentally agreed as Blindside nervously climbed through Bumblebee's backdoor after Freefel, 'Except Freefel and I are both quite vocal about people we're miffed at. But only when they can't hear us. We say scary things. Heh heh heh.'

I climbed in through Jazz's back door, with ShortCircuit still on my back. It kept her feeling safer, and made sure we'd be in constant communication with Starscream.

...Not sure if that was a good thing at this point, since he seemed to enjoy deliberately annoying us. But hey, we did the same to him! Or at least I did; ShortCircuit seemed quite happy to sit back and enjoy seeing/hearing me annoy Screamer and vice versa.

But back to the story.

Jazz and Bumblebee drove off of our front yard, onto the road, and I've gotta say, it felt **so cool** to be sitting in a fancy, expensive-looking alien-robot-car. Ah the things I could brag about if I didn't have to keep it all a secret!

Out the window, as the Autobots drove along, I could see Freefel sitting in Bumblebee, excitedly chatting away with him and Blindside. Well, at least with Bumblebee; Blindside was curled up in a ball on the backseat next to Freefel, shivering. Poor guy.

But he seemed to relax just a teensy bit as the rip continued, thanks to Freefel's perkiness and Bumblebee's friendliness.

Jazz, for his part, was very friendly and laid back, but I think it unnerved him when I spoke with ShotCircuit and/ or Starscream. Jazz tried to join in the conversation via comlink, but his voice was painfully loud for ShortCircuit and I because of our close proximity.

Plus, Starscream would instantly shut up the instant he heard Jazz's comlink connect to ours'. So the epic Autobot could only hear about 1/3 of our conversation.

So here's some of what he might've overheard and wondered about. "No, if you or Blindside tried escaping, they'd catch you and you might get accidentally hurt!"

"YES I really do mean accidentally!"

"Of course they won't kill you! The Autobots are really nice!"

"...Ok, most of them."

"Look, Starry- ok, fine, Star**scream**- you can track energy-signatures as well as anyone- ok, ok, better than some- so ya' don't need **me** to tell you where we're going, since I have no idea anyway."

"Well how **would** I know?"

These were some of the things that Jazz must've overheard, but he had the patience and politeness to not say anything to interrupt.

Then, after I-don't-even-know-how-long-maybe-15-minutes?, we apparently arrived at wherever-it-was-that-we-were-supposed-to-go. Jazz and Bumblebee stopped and opened the doors for us, and we four slid out and onto the grass, and the Autobots transformed.

Unsurprisingly, the first thing I had to do once I got out was answer Starscream's demand of "Where are you?!" I rolled my eyes and looked around, "I dunno, but it looks like... well, I dunno. Forests, lots of forests with tall trees, and fields nearby and stuff. Hardly any buildings nearby, just maybe one."

I could hear him grumbling and growling about 'signal-dampeners' or something, and I turned my attention back to the two Autobots. They were staring.

"Whaa-aaat?" I asked, miffed, "I spoke da truth!" Then I looked around again, "Seriously though, I can't tell where we are. And Starscream obviously can't either."

"Is no him fault," ShortCircuit told me, "Autobots is interfering with detection of energy-signatures. Is like leader said, is signature-dampeners. Is make Blindside very nervous to no sense signatures at all here."

"Ah," I replied out loud, nodding. That probably looked really weird, 'cause no one else could hear ShortCircuit's side of our mini-conversation.

"Ah, don't worry," Freefel told me, ignoring the seemingly random "ah" and sidling over, "With your absurdly vague description, I'm sure it'll take Starscream quite a while to find us."

I rolled my eyes, "Thanks sis, thanks a lot. You're so supportive of my intelligence." "Glad to help," she retorted cheerfully, laughing.

I sighed heavily, flopping my head to one side. I noticed Blindside a few feet away, muttering to himself. 'Does he usually do this?' I thought to ShortCircuit, and she sent me back a mental shrug, 'Eh, not sure. Is being long time since last spend long time with Blindside on Cybertron.' I mentally shrugged back, 'Eh. Ok.'

"So!" I announced, "Anyway. Now what?"

"Now..." Jazz declared with a smirk, "Ya get t' meet Prime."

"Oh..." I breathed, unable to comprehend the fact, "Uh... ok... Where is he?"

"I am right here, young one," came the ever so epic and famous voice of Optimus Prime himself, and he emerged epically from the nearby forest.

...

I'M ABOUT TO MEET OPTIMUS PRIME!

_Well well. I'm about to meet Optimus Prime himself. What shall occur?_


	56. Chapter 56

_Halloo! Here I be, and I got's not much to be speakin' of now. Except that one of our baby fish, named Eari, died. But that is sad. So, I'll reply to your reviews, which I thank you for giving me!_

_To __Link's Rose__: Yes, yes, and yes, it is Optimus Prime, woohoo! Um, thank you for wanting to be nice, but we're Jehovah's Witnesses and don't celebrate Christmas. Hmm, no I haven't; I think that I shall read it after I finish typing up this here chappy-ter. Thanks for the suggestion!_

_To __Cutie Kyuubi__: Thanks! Wow, you are? I've never seen a person really 'geeking out' before. Yay, I'm so glad that you like it, thank you! Thanks fer' reviewing!_

_And so after further ado, whatever ado is, I give-eth yee... the chapter!_

I looked up. Up... and up... and up. I looked up until the word 'up' didn't even sound like a word anymore.

I had sort of hoped to be able to say something witty or clever. What came out was, "Hh... uh." Yeah, **real** smooth. Oi.

So I tried again, "Um... You're- tall." I think the ever-so-epic Opimus Prime grinned just a little bit.

Meanwhile, I was trying to refrain from doing one or more of three things: screaming because I was so nervous and hyped up on adrenaline, fainting from the very-awesome fact that I'd just met OPTIMUS PRIME himself, or randomly laughing insanely because my brain was no longer functioning even at it's already low-level of functioning.

Maintaining eye/ optic contact was difficult and even under normal circumstances I just CAN'T do it (I gots Asperger's, and one of the symptoms is not being good at looking people in the eye.). So, I just stared at the ground and tried to make myself stop randomly thinking of G1 Decepticons wearing tutus and eating Cheese Doodles.

Yes, that's the sort of thing I think of. It's MADNESS I tell you! Also makes it very hard to not suddenly start laughing or cringing during the middle of class when I'm in school. Evil place, school. Oh, wouldn't it be interesting if it got invaded by ferrets? Ferrets wielding nerf guns and popsicle sticks and...

I was now in danger of giggling. I say 'in danger,' because if I did, then the Autobots would ask why, and then I would have to tell them. And that would not be good. At all.

ShortCircuit was busy laughing at my random thought-process, so she wasn't really helping. I mentally whacked her on the head with a small feather-duster, which just made her laugh more.

So, instead of focusing on my bizarre thoughts of glowing purple woodchucks whacking a large rock with flowery-painted baseball bats, I managed to nervously mumble, "I've been, um, trying to help, the uh, 'defective' smaller 'Cons."

Some more Autobots had emerged from the thick forest, which still provided adequate cover, even in the winter.

I could see two behind Optimus, a light one with thick colored designs, and a light one with dark- maybe black- patches. Both had narrowed blue optics, and I thought I heard some rumbles of dissent from them.

"Could you tell us," Optimus inquired carefully, kneeling down and causing me to feel unbelievably awkward and nervous, "why it is that you have been assisting these Decepticons?"

I shuffled my feet nervously, wishing I'd worn shoes over my socks. I noticed Freefel coming over to stand beside me, along with Blindside.

Their support (well, mostly Freefel's) made me feel better, so I swallowed some of my nervousness and replied to the amazing Autobot leader, "Erm, b-because they all deserve a chance." (I had to resist the urge to say "Because freedom is the right of all sentient beings.")

"The chance to do what?" one of the other Autobots, the dark and pale one questioned.

"The chance to live," I answered, "M-Megatron wants to kill the small, 'defective' ones off. He thinks that they aren't any use to him."

Blindside scooted closer as I added hesitantly, "And ShortCircuit and Blindside, here, are two of them."

There was a warning growl in my ear that startled me for a second, until I remembered that it was Starscream on ShortCircuit's comlink.

"Human," he growled, "You are giving away valuable information." "I know," I whispered to the stern-sounding jet, "But maybe if they know the whole story, they might agree to have a temporary truce or something. That's a good reason for a truce. That, and ya all hate Megatwit."

"Hmm," was Starscream's only reply.

I noticed, once again, that everyone had gone verrrryyy quiet. I looked up and decided that I was getting very tired of having Autobots staring at me just because I was chatting with Decepticons.

(Well, not tired of the Autobots, just tired of the staring.)

Optimus spoke first, "Jazz had informed me that you have been communicating with Starscream using your friend's comlink. Is this true?"

"Yeeeesssss," I answered carefully, nodding, "And he agrees that the smaller 'Cons shouldn't be killed just because they're small and have glitches or disabilities. So... in a way, you could all kind of be on the same side. Even though Starscream's helping them partially because he just wants to spite Megatron."

"Do you know this for a fact?" one of the other Autbots inquired, the one with pale coloring and darker colored designs. He sounded a bit older, and just a little bit more mildly curious than the other one.

I shook my head, replying "No, but it's my best guess, since he totally hates Megatwit. Aaaannnd although his and your motives might be different for helping the smaller 'Cons, if you **do** want to that, maybe you Autobots and Starscream could work together? As in, you and him not blowing one another up or trying to kill one another?"

"A truce?" I heard Starscream's scornful voice very loudly and clearly over the comlink, "How interesting. And how naïve."

His voice had been loud. And clear.

It only sounded like that if he was really close by.

Oh no.

_Eh. Bit of a cliffitty cliff hanger. Kinda shorter chapter. But I am currently too lazy to lengthen it, for I have ferrets to play with, a movie to pick out for watching with my utterly insane father and equally insane sister, and a fantastic super long book to read._

_Sometimes, I really, really love my life._

_And sometimes I hate it, but that's another story. Aaaack, I think my thumb has poison ivy itchy spots upon it. Curse yoooouuu itchy plant substanceeesssss...!_

_But maybe some more reviews will help my poor, abused thumb-flesh recover? Oh, what, I'm resorting to cheap tricks to get reviews now? Yes, yes I am, and they're not cheap! Yes they. I think you mean "Yes they are." I care not! Why am I talking to myself again? Again? Yes, again! Why again? Dunno. Ok. Hey look, it ain't such a short chappy-ter now! Oh yeah!_

_What?_


	57. Chapter 57

_AAAAAAA! I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN SO MANY DAYSSSSSS! I've been ill, drowning in homework stress, and dealing with the fact that more of our baby fish have died,and now FireFlare's sick too, so I'm depressed and more insane than usual. BAD INSANE! Not the nice, crazy funny kind! I didn't let myself go on FanFiction AT ALL until just this moment as I finished my homework! I shall now commence mentally rolling around on the floor moaning incoherently. ...And imagining smacking my homework-giving-teachers with a wet noodle..._

_To __707cloud__: Aww, I sawy, I didn't mean to be mean. I'll try to update more frequently I promise, and I'm really sorry for making you wait! *smiles apologetically and begs forgiveness* Forgive? Pwease? And thank you very, very much for reviewing!_

_To __smoshaholic123__: Heh heh. Yyyyup. Glowing purple woodchucks are some of the most normal crazy-things that run around in my brain. They've recently moved back in after a long absence. Now my OCs are chasing them._

_To __Cutie Kyuubi__: Yay, more crazy talk-to-self person, is veerry good company... I wish you could have a ferret too. Eh, I'll try my best, but my brain is glitching spasmodically and screaming from time to time, so it might be difficult to make a long-ish-er chappy-ter. Hmm, t'is possible, but ShortCircuit is already able to remove her wires; lookitty look at chapter 35. Good suggestion you give though, I appreciate it!_

_To __Corana Pax__: Yay, I'm so glad you like it! Yup, uh oh indeed. Hahaha, I started laughing when I read that: the Dorito of doom! __**Seekjei**__: But he's only VAGUELY Dorito shaped here! __**Me**__: Quiet, Seekjei! Wait, why am I telling myself/character-me to be quiet?_

_To __Mayday200__: Woohoo! I'm so very glad that I made you laugh! Yep,lotsa chapters. And one tired out authoress. I'm running on fumes at this point, whatever that means. Ehhh, I'll TRY to update, and I WANT to, but school and unforeseen occurrences (my family and me getting sick) are vicious fighters against the updating._

_To __Screamer's girl__: Nope, he ain't. Heh heh, no. YAY! Me neither, unless they've annoyed me a lot, and then I glare at their eyes. __**Seekjei**__: GRR! Scary eyes! Rahr! __**Me**__: Wh- huh?! Seekjei/me, stop that! __**Seekjei**__: NEVERRRRRR! *glares at me* __**Me**__: Great, I'm having a staring/glaring contest with myself/story-version-of-myself! I confuse myself. __**Seekje**__: Yes, I do. __**Me**__: Blaaahhh. Oh! Screamer's girl,I have missed your reviews a lot, so I will now review on one of your fanfics as I type this to say thanks you! ...Ah! I just reviewed on "Clash Of Dimensions"!_

_To __EHSparkwoman__: Very uh-oh indeed does it be! Starscream can be a scary person when he wants to be! Their base? Oh, no actually, the Autobots- no, sorry, I can't tell you yet. But I'll try to explain what I almost just said now in this chapter, and mention what it is that I'm explaining when I do. Problem? What problem do you mean? Seriously, I'm not sure what you mean. Story-conflict? Disease? Mental instability? I got tons of tha- Ooh look a jaguar! No it's just my pointy toenail. I BLAME HOMEWORK!_

_To __honeyfuu__: Nooo, no need to apologize! You're review is gigantic! Oi, I hate being super busy and ill, too. Awww, tha- I just saw a leaf fall out of my hair. As I was saying, Awww, thank you! Thanks. No, it ain't easy fer' 'Bots and 'Cons to trust one another. Thanks, I try to make me reactions honest and funny at the same time. Hmm, Megatron's a tricky evil overlord he is... I don't know what he's thinking exactly, but I hope to try! Hooray for truces, even if temporary! Yeh, I love it when the two factions work together to do something good! OOOH, AND JUST THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Your review is soooooo nice and thoughtful and kind! Eh, if ya knew my mind, you'd be way more scared; ShortCircuit knows it and says I got's many da problems. Your thoughts in the review didn't irritate me at all, I loved it! Those are BRILLIANT ideas! I like the point of view you have, and it points out stuff that I never would have noticed. So, thank you a trillion times, thank you!_

_And now, after a full MicrosoftWord page of review responses to you wonderful reviewers, here's the chapter! ...I need a break._

"Uhh?" I made a panicked noise and whipped my head around frantically, trying to locate where Starscream was.

"What are yo-o-o-ou doing?" Bumblebee asked, sounding concerned.

"Ahh," I moaned nervously, "It's... It's Starscream. I heard his voice really clearly and loudly over ShortCircuit's comlink, and it only sounds that way if..."

I didn't even have to finish. The other Autobots had exclaimed or muttered or snapped in response to what I'd started saying, and now I couldn't be heard anyway.

Of course the Autobots would easily know what a really clear comlink message would mean; they'd had comlinks for thousands of years! I was one little human who had a Decepticon friend with a comlink.

"He's nearby," I told Freefel dully, humbled by the fact that one again, I was surrounded by persons who knew way more about something than I did. Then I shook off the brief melancholy and continued searching the skies, which most of the Autobots were peering at too.

"**I** thought that you'd **just** been suggesting a truce?" Starscream told me, mock-innocent and sarcastic at the same time, "And now you're telling your Autobot friends where I am so that they might shoot me down?"

"No!" I protested, "I don't want anyone being shot! And I don't even know where you are, or how close by! I just didn't want you sneaking up and hurting the Autobots!"

"You assumed that I was planning to kill them the instant I saw them?" he inquired, still mock-innocently and feigning offence, "I'm hurt that you'd think that, human. Aren't you going against that 'no prejudice' rule of yours?"

I blinked, startled, "W-Well- but I, I-... nyyyehhhh!" I heard Starscream chuckling at my inability to form a good answer.

I pouted slightly, glad that no one could see my miffed expression in the dark.

Just then, Jazz let out a triumphant, "Ha!" He pointed on arm at the sky, and I thought I heard a small noise, faintly similar to The Doctor's sonic screwdriver. Jazz swung his arm in an arch, then muttered something in annoyance. Bee was doing much the same thing, but swinging his arm around a bit more haphazardly.

"What... are they doing?" Freefel asked, just as I heard an older-sounding 'Bot muttering, "I thought Wheeljack's signal dampeners were fully completed this time!"

"Signal dampeners?" I guessed in answer to Freefel's question, but ShortCircuit laughed at me. Even Blindside, over by himself a couple feet away, seemed to smirk a teensy bit.

"What?" I asked indignantly, and then thought it at ShortCircuit, 'What?!'

She continued laughing, but answered mentally, 'Them is not using signal dampeners on arms. Signal dampeners is hidden someplace probably. Autobots is using signal-**tracers**, silly!'

"Uh huh," I stated blandly, "Aaand, what are signal tracers?"

"They..." Blindside started to say, then stopped. "Go on," I encouraged.

Our sightless friend continued, "They are devices that are to be pointed at other Cybertronians. A beam of light comes out, charged with particles that... Well, a beam of light comes out and marks the Cybertronian with that light, similar to an extra energy-signature, but with a visible light instead of a sensed signature."

"I can't see it," Freefel noted, sounding worried and a bit miffed.

"Neither can-" Blindside snorted bitterly, then stopped and went on explaining. ShortCircuit knew he'd been about to say 'neither can I.'

"The light is not on the spectrum that is visible to human opti... eyes," Blindside continued, "The light's particles are encoded so that only those with that code can see it on the target. If one Autobot succeeds in marking Starscream, the others with see the mark, because they are using the same code. Other Autobots would not see it, nor would other Decepticons."

"Is like..." ShortCircuit tried to explain with a comparison, "Light-tag. Laser tag! But light stay on tagged person, and only tagger's team can see light. Can see it through clouds and walls for certain distance. Is new technology for us, recent."

"Makes find-and-chase more hard," she added with a mental grin. 'Find-and-chase? Oh, tag! Yeah, that'd be fun,' I smirked.

"How did the Decepticon locate us?" one of the Autobots- the one that looked white and black- questioned, standing right in front of me suddenly. I'd been too focused on talking to notice his approach.

"Well, I don't know!" I retorted indignantly, "I couldn't tell him! **I** don't even know where we are!"

"I do," I tiny voice whispered nearby. Blindside!

He sounded regretful, but also a touch defensive as he whispered nervously, "We were in the Autobot's vehicle mode... He took a right, and wen't straight for some time, then a curve, then looped to the left, and then right again..."

So **that's** what he'd been doing when he was mumbling to himself before! ShortCircuit and I realized it together: he'd been giving Starscream the road-directions for how to get here!

(_HEY! __EHSparkwoman__! Here's the explanation coming up!_)

I had a sudden worry. "Is this near your base?!" I asked the Autobot, looking up in horror, "I'm sorry!" Wasn't sure what for, but I was sorry for something.

"This would not be a logical site for our base," the black-and-white Autobot informed me, just as the details clicked in my brain and I realized what his name must be, "This location's proximity too human dwelling places is far too great."

My sister gasped, looking positively awestruck. "YOU'RE PROWL!" she suddenly cheered, making him and the nearest Autobot- Bee, still trying to spot Starscream- jump in surprise. I decided to try and help out with the Looming Starscream Dilemma while my sister tortured one of her favorite Autobots in the universe.

"Are you all right?" said-Autobot inquired as Freefel fell backwards and rolled on the grass, giggling.

"Only as well as the cheeze-it cheese chip doodles please you!" she laughed deliriously in response, causing one of the poor Autobot's optics to twitch.

(_FireFlare has just informed me that she would not have actually said that. I'm having a rough day, so, TOUGH! I think it's funny, it's illogical, it makes Prowl twitch, and it popped into my brain! So the crazy phrase shall remain in this chapter!_)

Blindside, standing nervously a couple feet away, abruptly straightened up and nudged me gently toward a tree. "You have to stand here for a moment," he muttered, "I don't know why, but Starscream said so."

I heard Freefel continuing to ruin Prowl's sanity as I shrugged and walked a few feet toward the tree, then asked ShortCircuit to please comlink Starscream as Blindside edged away.

"The comlink was never off. Human," Starscream informed me with a smirk, diving low enough in the sky to get marked by one of the Autobots' signal-tracer beam thingies.

"Oh," I muttered, abashed, then went on louder, "Well, could you please not attack the Autobots? Please?"

"Oh?" he responded mockingly, circling lazily in the sky, while the Autobots pointed, "And why shouldn't I?"

"Because!" I pleaded, "If you don't try to hurt them, there's no reason for them to try to hurt you! You said a truce would be interesting, right? Let's have a truce!"

In answer, a cannon blast shot into the ground behind me, making a surprisingly classic "PYEWW" sound. I leaped up in terror, barely noticing something light land in my hair.

Everyone, myself included, scattered, startled by the blast, some of us exclaiming or gasping in surprise.

I backed up nervously, wondering why Starscream could've wanted me to stand near a tree for him to shoot at me. I noticed that said-tree had a faintly-glowing spot on one end of a small twig-ending of a thin branch.

I unfurled ShortCircuit's wings and flapped up a few feet. The twig-ending of the tree was smoldering, I noticed, and I instinctively smacked at it with one hand. My hand missed the burning tip, but whacked into the thin base, snapping it and almost singeing my hand.

I yelped in surprise, flapping away, and noticed Freefel stomping out the smoldering stick- now on the ground- with her shoe. I couldn't believe she'd remembered to put on shoes before we left the house!

How long ago had that been? Felt like hours. I noticed that I was still panting and wide-eyes, flapping my hand around to cool it off.

I stopped, and yelped again as another shot blasted the ground below me, with another "PYEWW" sound. I noticed that no trees were harmed in the making of this shot, and I remembered the thing that'd landed on my head.

Reaching up, I plucked out of my hair... a twig. A twig? Had Starscream asked Blindside to put me near the tree just so that he could shoot and make a twig fall on my head?

ShortCircuit scoffed, but before she could say anything, there was a third blast, and I darted over to where Optimus was standing near the other Autobots.

"What are you doing?" the epic Optimus inquired, sounding remarkably calm, considering that Starscream seemed to be attacking us.

"I'm trying to shield you so you don't get shot 'cause the attackers always seem to target you, at least in a lot of the TV series, and I don't want you to die 'cause that'd be really sad and you did die in the 2nd movie and it was awful but a guy named Sam brought you back with ancient matrix dust that he kept in an old, dirty sock, which was funny."

Yes. Just another testament to my weirdness and insanity.

An amused chuckling came out of ShortCircuit's comlink, and, I suddenly realized, from roughly a hundred yards away.

The Autobots all aimed their weapons as Starscream abruptly swooped down out of the dark, transforming in midair and landing surprisingly quietly on the grassy earth.

Well, quiet except for his snickering. "You humans overreact so easily," Starscream smirked as he walked calmly toward us.


	58. Chapter 58

_AAAAAAAAA! Evil math homework! Evil question homework! Evil essay homework! Evil homework in general! I haven't been able to update FOR DAYS because of homework! I've developed a nervous habit of tapping my finger randomly because of homework! AAAAAAA!_

_I is calmed down now. Been listening to a cool song, "Forsaken" by 'Within Temptation.' (I'd always thought that the last lyrics were "the teaspoon... The teaspoon...") Our ferrets are adorably crazy. I randomly want to eat popcorn now. And my math teacher is trying to kill me with homework of doom. ...Yeah, that's pretty much all the news I gots. So, now for the wonderful reviews from wonderful readers!_

_To __Blackhooves__: Thanks! Thank you, and yay! ...Ok, I've just reviewed on it. And I'll probably review after I type up this chapter. Thanks again!_

_To __707cloud__: I'm glad. Thank you very much! Well, wait no longer, 'cause here it be!_

_To __Miss MayD__: Yay, I'm always pleased with myself when my chapters turn out funny! Yep, we are. Ok, ok, haha, I dare not face your wrath!_

_To __Autobot-Bre__: No problem-o! Aww, no internet is painful! Ouch, I feel your pain; we had no internet after Hurricane Sandy. Thank you very very much for your sympathy, I was worried that people would think that it was silly of me to mention our fish..._

_To __Cutie Kyuubi__: Well, he's Starscream; he's allowed to be scornful of we crazy little humans. (Erm, please no swear words.) Ah, ok then. It's a very good idea._

_To __Link's Rose__: Yahoo, I love it when readers love the insanity! Yes, indeed he is. Yeah, lots of fans do. 'Celt'? I don't know what that means, except that 'Celt__**ic**__' is a language... Haha, yay, my family loves Doctor Who too!_

_And now for the chapter!_

Seeing Starscream walking calmly across the grass, no weapons drawn, was surprising. I'd just started to feel hopeful for the chance of no fighting-... when I saw the Autobots aiming their weapons at Starscream.

I gasped in horror, then yelled "NO!" My shout splintered the quiet night air, hurting my own ears even as I raced forward.

I didn't want to consider the possibility of getting shot, so I acted before I could think about it. Skidding to a halt about ½ way between the Autobots and Starscream, I turned to face the 'Bots, then flew up and hovered a few feet off the ground

"Don't shoot!" I begged, hoping that ONE: Starscream wasn't planning on shooting in the first place, and TWO: that the Autobots would not shoot if there was a crazy human girl flapping around between them and their target.

Still half-expecting deadly blasts of cannon-fire, I closed my eyes as I hovered in place, arms outstretched. Or maybe I closed my eyes because I felt that I looked silly.

Moments passed, though I couldn't tell how long. Every breath was like a silent countdown, and I couldn't see the numbers. I focused on just flapping our wings so that wouldn't think of that.

ShortCircuit was doing the same as I was: mentally whimpering and mumbling so incoherently that neither of us could tell what we were thinking.

I nearly shrieked when I felt something poke my back. (Well, ShortCircuit's back, but I could feel it too.)

I peeked open one eye and peered behind me. Oops. It turned out that I hadn't been staying in one spot while flapping; I'd drifted backwards toward Starscream, and he had just now nudged my away from him with one finger.

"Eh, sorry about that," I mumbled, and the huge Decepticon just shrugged. I glanced back at the Autobots, and was thrilled to see that they weren't pointing their weapons at us anymore.

Though Prowl looked like he was calculating what angle he could use to shoot. Thankfully, I saw Optimus narrow his optics and motion for the others to lower their weapons, which they did, mostly grudgingly.

I silently rejoiced that Ironhide, epic though he and his explosion-causing weapons may be, wasn't here. He might've shot immediately, and then there would be human-goo all over the lovely field.

I nervously glanced up at Starscream as ShortCircuit and I landed back on the ground, inquiring cautiously, "So... You're not gonna blow one another up, right?"

The Decepticon scoffed contemptuously, "If I had wanted these Autobots offline, then I would have shot them from the air before they had known I was here. You don't honestly believe that my aim is _that_ bad? You have a twig in your hair to prove otherwise."

I reached up and pulled out said-twig, which had fallen on my head when Starscream had shot the tree branch.

"You... weren't aiming at the Autobots?" I asked, confused, "Or me? You were... You were showing off how good your aim was." I realized this as I noticed three tennis-ball sized scorch marks on the ground, all three within an inch or two of one another.

"Wow!" I exclaimed, "That's amazing!" I heard some irritated growling from the Autobots as they heard me complimenting a Decepticon's incredible aim with a gun. Oops.

"But, uh, why'd you shoot at all?" Freefel asked, cocking her head to one side, "Couldn't you have landed, said you meant no harm, and then shown how awesome you can shoot? Given a warning?"

Starscream didn't say anything for a second, then shrugged derisively, "I **could**."

"Oh!" I laughed, just realizing something, "You wanted to see everybody running around, looking silly and panicking, didn't you?"

Starscream growled a warning hiss, but I shook my head and promised, "No, no, I'm not making fun- I agree! And I'm glad to know you have a sense of humor. We **did** look pretty funny."

"And you **sounded** funny, Seekjei," Freefel told me, "You went 'mnuhAAA!' and did a mini spasm-dance."

"Well **you** jumped a foot in the air," I countered, "And gasped like a fat old dude, 'HUH-UH!'." We both started laughing at one another's reenactment, and I even heard ShortCircuit chuckling as well.

The light-hearted laughing at least seemed to relieve some of the tension, though Starscream still looked just a teeny bit flustered that I had picked up on- and practically announced- this non-intimidating facet of his otherwise mostly intimidating personality.

Thusly, I decided to make him feel better. So, I slowly inched my way towards him, aaannd... gave him a hug.


	59. Chapter 59

_HIII! I randomly have no homework tonight except to study and I'm now so HAPPYYYYY!_ _And now for the reviews from all you wonderful people!_

_To __Cutie Kyuubi__: Yeah, he does. Ok, thank you very much._

_To __707cloud__: Yep, very sneaky he is. Yay! I'm really glad ya like it! Thank you!_

_To __Link's Rose__: OHH, ok then. Thanks for correcting me. Yeah, my parents hate autocorrect too. Hmm, thank you for telling me of this song,_ _I'll look it up and listen to it. Yaaay, I loves it so muchly when my chapters are hilarious! Yeah; stupid Unicron. I agree, Armada Starscream shouldn't have diiieeeed!_

_To __Blackhooves__: Hahaha, yeah, I agree. Except maybe for the most evil and awful (and annoying) of the TF villains, of which there be many. Yahoo! I hope you can update soon; your Fanfics are great! You're welcome, and thanks muchly to YOU for giving ME lovely reviews! Thanks again!_

_To __EHSparkwoman__: Yay, he could always use a few more hugs! I'm very glad it made ya smile, that is good. You're welcome, and thanks to you too!_

_And now for the chapter!_

Well, Starscream certainly wasn't expecting the hug, I can guarantee that!

He made this sort of part startled, part disgusted gasp of confusion. (Think of that episode of 'Invader Zim' where Zim says "EH?! Skooge? What're YOU doing here?" But only the "EH?!" part.)

And, having thusly given his opinion on my hugging of his left leg, Starscream shook said-leg for several seconds, until I fell off.

Taking no offense- though my rear and back hurt where I'd landed on them, and ShortCircuit complained that I'd partially squashed her- I got back up, smiled, and shrugged.

Blindside looked like he was piecing together what'd just happened by means of sound and smell, most of the Autobots looked concerned and/or disturbed, and Freefel and Jazz looked like they were barely holding back their laughter.

Freefel succumbed to guffawing, snickering, and cackling quite madly, while Jazz chuckled, "What, you'll hug a big bad 'Con, but not good ol' 'Hide?"

"Ironhide attempted to _keel meee_," I reminded the silver Autobot. Optimus looked surprised by this, and turned to glare sternly into the woods.

"Ironhide?" the epic Optimus called sternly, making me smirk slightly at how much he sounded like a dad scolding a kid, "Why was I not informed of this?"

"Ahh," Ironhide muttered as he emerged from the woods, making ShortCircuit and Blindside flinch in surprise, "I din't believe it was necessary to inform you, sir." A glance in Freefel's direction made me silently groan, 'Oh no.'

"Not necessary?!" my sister demanded, her voice squeaking ever so slightly, "Not **necessary** to tell your **leader**, the super-amazing **Optimus Prime**, that you **almost killed** my **sister**?!" I held back my grin at her infuriated grimace, blazing eyes, and her fingers that were twitching and stiffly curled like claws.

I put a hand on her shoulder and assured, "It's ok, I don't mind."

"HUH?!" my dumbfounded-yet-still-furious sister demanded, to which I replied lightheartedly, "I wouldn't have minded if he **had** killed me, 'cause then I'd be dead, and dead people don't mind anything. 'Cause they're dead.

Of course, if he'd killed **you**, then I would've had to make his life miserable for all eternity and plague him with agony and guilt until I die, so that my memory would forever haunt and scar him for liiiiife. But Ironhide has killed neither one of us, so I don't mind, and I hope we can be friends."

At this, I turned to smile cheerfully at the Autobots, who had some rather humorous expressions on their faces.

"You... are a very strange human," Ironhide stated slowly, eyeing me warily. This statement was closely echoed by the lighter-colored Autobot with colored markings, though he used the word 'unusual.'

I nodded and glanced back at Starscream, "Yes, so I've been told."

"For good reason," the 'Con told me bluntly, then transformed into his jetfighter mode and hovered a few feet in the air, "I'll be leaving now."

"But what about starting the mini-truce thingie?" I asked, slightly whining, to which Starscream replied blandly, "I have not injured any of these Autobots here in any way. I'd say that is certainly enough."

"Good point," I admitted, thinking that at least it was a start, "Hey, um, can I go with you? I'm tired and I'd really like to get home."

The Decepticon scoffed, "You can fly there yourself. And if not, surely one of these **Autobots**"- the word was said with a large dose of scorn- "could manage to return you there."

"Flying's a bit faster," I answered sheepishly, not wanting to offend the 'Bots, "And it's too dark for me to find my way back. Besides, I can't carry Freefel and Blindside."

"Oh," snorted Ironhide, "And why would you trust a **Decepticon** to help you?"

"Because Starscream is AWESOME!" Freefel declared vehemently, then pulled out a Nerf Dart-gun from **somewhere**, and promptly fired it at Ironhide.

On instinct, the weapons specialist dodged to one side (having far better aim than I would have, Freefel still managed to land two Nerf Darts on his shoulder.) and whipped out his cannons.

There was a startled pause, and then Ironhide lowered his cannons with a scowl. Freefel (and myself) looked both astonished and hyperventilating-y, if that is indeed a word.

After a second, Starscream informed the 'Bots, with what must have been a long-perfected mix of smugness and sarcasm, "I believe **I** will be taking them now."

And with that, he resolutely glided forward on his landing gear and halted beside Freefel and Blindside, opening his cockpit for them. A bit hesitantly, the two got in. When I started towards him, though, Starscream refused to let me in; there wasn't nearly enough room for two humans and two small 'Cons.

So, I extended ShortCircuit's wings, fluttering up a few feet in the air. I doubted I'd be able to keep up with Starscream though. While ShortCircuit's wings were strong, we weren't very fast fliers, since I am not a very light human.

Just as I was thinking that annoying thought, ShortCircuit heard it and comlinked Starscream, informing him very quietly of this fact. Even though her voice is very quiet, speaking via comlink to someone so close by would still be rather loud, so she had to whisper.

I ducked my head, feeling a little embarrassed. And then gagged in surprise when a huge jet-wing smacked into my stomach, quickly lifting me higher into the air.

I glanced over to my right and saw that I was stuck, bent double, on the front of Starscream's right wing

"Errf," I grunted, then wheezed, a bit low on oxygen, "Thanks, Starry."

"You owe me," he grumbled over the quieter-than-expected sound of his engines.

_Aaaggghhhh... I started typing this up about two days ago! Frustrating school always interferes. Oh, and by the way, __Link's Rose__, I listened to the song, "Forgiven,"and it was beautiful! Thank you for suggesting it!_


	60. Chapter 60

_HIIII! I've just been randomly and obsessively reading 'Invader Zim' Fanfics! And I'm insane! Hahahahahaha!_

_To __Link's Rose__: Yay! Heh heh, yup, strange indeed. Ehhh, actually no. I don't. I think he's just kinda lonely and doesn't want to admit that he sort of enjoys the bizarre and annoying company I am. Yeh, he cares, juuuuust a smidgen. Oh no, I almost forgot he has internet connection and might read thi- AA! No nono, Starry, Starscream please don't-... *sigh* He stuck me in a tree. A pointy tree. I will have to throw pies or something at him later._

_To __707cloud__: Wow, thank you so much! Yeah, those parts were fun to write about, and I'm so glad you enjoyed them! I'll try to make this chapter as good as I can._

_To __Cutie Kyuubi__: Eh, sorry fer da shortness. Yay, thank you! Yeah, my sister's a great shot, but I have the worst aim ever. Heh heh heh, yeah, FireFlare/ Freefel is crazy, just like me, so she's totally fine with shooting a nerf gun at a giant weapons specialist Autobot. Brave? Yes. Has guts? Most certainly. Can hide a Nerf gun someplace without detection? I... don't __**think**__ so..._

_To __Autobot Mechanical-operations__: Heh heh, yeeessss, the pie trees. That was one of the funniest mistakes I've ever typed! And thank you very much for reviewing!_

_Now for the chappy-ter!_

"WHAAAT?!" Freefel protested, horrified at Starscream's plan of how to get her and Blindside back to our house, "C-Can't you just **land**?! And then let us out?!"

"No, sis," I sighed, even though I knew that she was in Starscream's cockpit and couldn't hear me. I could hear **her** though, because Blindside had his comlink on, connected with ShortCircuit's, so we could hear what Freefel was yelling next to him about the fact that she didn't want Starscream to literally **drop** them off near our house.

"Please stop," Blindside pleaded quietly with her, a slight moan in his voice, "You are very loud." Even over the comlink, my sister's shouting was painfully audible, especially because of how close by we were.

To solve this, ShortCircuit and I tiled to one side, soaring a little farther away. Thankfully, Starscream had slowed his pace enough to allow us to keep up on our own.

"I will not be landing in that cramped little clump of flimsy structures that you humans call a 'neighborhood,'" Starscream informed Freefel and I contemptuously. "It's not cramped," I told him, slightly perturbed, "We all have nice big yards and stuff."

"**You** may be content with that," he scoffed, "But for a Cybertronian of **my** stature, this is a puny village, with very little space to move about in. And as I had said, the other humans would most likely hear my engines- quieter than your planes though they may be- and attempt to investigate."

"It'll still be loud if yer' flying right over the neighborhood!" Freefel protested, but Starscream corrected, "I will be long gone before any humans can even process the sound of my engines. Landing however, as **you** seem so keen on, would take far longer, and most likely leave scorch marks on that crumbly tar that your species uses as a road."

'It's a **street**,' I thought tetchily, but saw no point in mentioning it. Starscream was, after all, doing us a favor by helping us get home. It'd be rude of me to correct him on such little things as what to call a street.

"The humans will not hear **my** engines," Blindside mentioned quietly, and Freefel and I both gasped, "Huuuhh?" in unison. ShortCircuit and Starscream however, seemed to have already known what Blindside was talking about.

I'd been highly concerned for him and Freefel when Starscream had told us that he was going to drop them over the neighborhood- most likely into a tall tree- but ShortCircuit had reassured me that Blindside had a plan to keep them safe.

She hadn't told me what it was, and had disconnected some of our head-wires so she wouldn't accidentally think it a me. Now, apparently, I was going to find out what the 'plan' was.

I could almost see Blindside's timid smile as he elaborated, "I have acquired a custom alt-mode." A couple seconds later, I heard metal shifting, Freefel yelping in surprise (there wasn't much room in the cockpit), and then her exclamation of amazement.

"Cool! You turn into a jet-pack! With those big pointy wing-thiniges!"

"Good for you," Starsceam muttered blandly, "Now get out of my cockpit."

(_GAH! I just watched a bunch of 'Invader Zim' episodes and now I'm imagining Starscream saying this in Zim's voice! ...Actually not that bad._)

"What-?" Freefel barely had time to gasp, before the cockpit opened and Starscream abruptly halted, and instantly flew... backwards! How was that even possible?

Having no time to ponder over the incredible feats of Cybertronian abilities, ShortCircuit and I darted over as fast as we could to catch Freefel and Blindside.

Thankfully, Blindside had apparently been accustomed to how quickly powerful Cybertronians expected their orders to be carried out. Also thankfully, he thusly managed to slip one of his arm-strap-things around one of Freefel's arms.

Now he was blasting his engines to keep them both from going 'splat' on the ground, which resulted in some very funny spinning around in midair, while Freefel squeezed her eyes closed and tried to muffle her shrieking. Granted, Blindside's and Freefel's lives were kinda in danger, but still. Funny.

I smirked to myself for a split second, enjoying the absurd scene- illuminated by ShortCircuit's optics and Blindside's rocket engine thingies- and then dove forward to help pull the two up.

I yelped in surprise and irritation when one of Blindside's spinning pointy wingtips smacked into one of my hands, and then the other whirling wingtip bonked my head after the first yanked me forward by my hand.

"Ooww," I complained indignantly, as Freefel finally managed to get her other arm through Blindside's other arm-strap-thing, stabilizing them. Now, instead of spiraling downwards in crazy circles, the two were haphazardly and erratically falling down through the air, though much slower.

I could see that they were headed down towards a large tree, which may cushion their fall, but not very well, and Blindside's engine-rocket-things (I never can seem to find the right word for those) could set it on fire.

I wasn't sure whether Starscream had been unaware of this possibility, or if he'd known about it and wanted to test our abilities. Regardless of Starscream's intent, my sister and ShortCircuit's friend needed our help, so we flew downwards to assist them, but more cautiously this time.

"Grab my feet, sis!" I called down to Freefel once we were right above them. Weird sentence, but she listened. I barely noticed how cold her fingers were around my ankles, as ShortCircuit and I flapped our wings as hard as we could.

All four of us soared up a couple feet, then slowly drifted down again, much more slowly and carefully. Finally, Freefel gasped in relief, "I can feel the ground!" I could see it, lit up by the glow of Blindside's engines, and Freefel let go of my ankles.

Exhausted from the long night, much flying, and sudden rise and then fall of adrenalin, I collapsed on the ground a second or two after Freefel. Freefel limply tugged her arms out of Blindside's arm-straps and slowly stretched out on the ground, clutching the grass as if it might try to spring away from her.

"Unhh," she groaned, "Did you see where my stomach went? I think I left it inside Starscream's cockpit." "Nooo," Stascream replied over ShortCircuit's comlink, sounding faintly disturbed, "There are no human internal organs inside of me, thank you very much."

"No, no, thank _you_, Starry," I moaned, "We all just _love_ being dropped out of the sky into a tree." Though we'd managed to steer away from said-tree, we'd still gotten whacked by a few of it's branched, and had small scratches an bits of twigs in our hair and clothes, and some in ShortCIrcuit's wing-feathers.

"Hm," Starscream stated, "You still owe me." "Aah, just be glad my sister didn't puke in you," I mumbled to him as the four of us trudged home. Well, three, ShortCircuit got to rest, stil attached to my spine.

"No more heights, no more heights," Freefel muttered to herself as I helped her climb back onto the roof. Once back inside our room, Freefel and I collapsed onto our separate beds, after 11:00PM, and fell asleep.

...Uuunntil around 2:30AM the next morning. Starscream was still miffed about that incident with the Autobots. Oh great.


	61. Chapter 61

_Yo. Not much be happenin', except that I haz evil homework, and my sis, dad, and I introduced our mom to "Invader Zim" and had a long "Invader Zim"-watching marathon almost all day. ...MADNESS! Oh hey lookit that! This Fanfic has almost 200 reviews!_

_To To __Cutie Kyuubi__: Ah, yes, 'thrusters,' thank you very much. I'm not so good with remembering parts of mechanical or electronic stuff._

_To __EHSparkwoman__: Ohhh, the punishment he has in store for meeee... Heh heh, well, with Starscream (and some of the other 'Cons), it's a bit hard to tell when they're joking or being serious; we humans __**do**__ have some weird phrases and stuff. Eh, sorry, I dunno where the quote is from. Please tell me?_

_To __Blackhooves__: Thanks! Aww, yay, I am glad now. Thanks for the encouragement! I really appreciate it and will try my best to continue improving! Sorry for not updating sooner; as always, blame school and my own random laziness._

_Well, that be all, so ON TO THE CHAPTER! Oh, and, similar to chapter 48..._

_**WARNING! EXTRA WARNING!: Anyone who's a fan of Beiber, please do not read this chapter.**__ If you read this chapter, __**please do not be offended**__. If you are offended, please do not try to kill me. If you do try to kill me, please do not succeed. If you do succeed, please be aware that my sister, Transformers, and ferrets shall then find you and do unspeakably horrible things to you. Have a nice day! :3_

Remember those joking guesses I made about torture in chapter 48? Well, I wish Starry didn't! Because he decided to see just how effective the most horrifying one was!

"HUMAN!" he yelled, at around 2:00AM the next morning. I was still tired from the meeting with the Autobots, the insanity of said-meeting, and the insanity of getting home.

I **still** had pieces of twigs in my hair, which had poked into my skin while I slept.

"Whaaatt?" I moaned in response to Starscream's painfully-loud shout through poor ShortCircuit's comlink. Starscream sounded... disturbingly smug when he replied.

"Cybertronians have easily-accessed connection to the Earth's internet."

"Goood fer you," I stated with a faint sneer, "Now why are you waking me up? It is late- well, early- and I am **tired**!"

"You mentioned something three nights ago, careless little human," he responded, and I could **hear** the smirk in his voice.

"Uh," I muttered uncertainly, "I... don't really remember...?"

"Oh, well then," Starscream snickered, "allow me to refresh your memory. I believe it was some specific human singer that you mentioned..."

"...No. Oh no," I whispered in horror, comprehension dawning cruelly, "Please no."

"Yee-eesss," he answered in a devious, sing-song voice.

"Nooooo!" I wailed quietly, whispering it so as not to wake up Freefel. At he moment, she was apparently dreaming, murmuring in her sleep, "The light comes from it's head, squirrel."

I grinned for a second at the wackiness that is my sister, before remembering what horrors Starscream had just threatened to torture me with. I whimpered.

"If this is as bad as you say," Starscream chuckled, "then it should teach you a lesson for telling the Autobots so much!"

"Telling them so much?!" I whisper-shrieked indignantly, "I told 'em that you had a sense of humor!"

"Yes," Starscream agreed thoughtfully, "I certainly do have that..." And having said this, he began to play a music video of something even worse than 'Barney' or 'Dora the explorer'...

Bieber.

"MMMMFF!" I shrieked, biting my hand and stuffing my pillow and blankets over my head to keep quiet.

"ShortCircuit," I hissed as the horrifically girly 'singing' continued, "Get off my head! Get off please so I don't have to hear this!"

'No,' she replied regretfully, 'Starscream is tell me not to.'

At this point, I think I started pulling out my hair in frustration, and nearly tried to shove ShortCircuit's headphone-head away, but then decided that that'd be mean to ShortCircuit; it wasn't her fault that we were both suffering this 'music.'

So, having no other option waiting for me in my delusionally crazed brain, I started looking around for something hard enough for me to knock myself unconscious with.

But I figured that I might accidentally cause myself serious brain damage- well, **more** serious brain damage than I already had, from my own general lunacy, accidental-head-bonking, and robotic-alien-brain-wires. Yeah.

The 'song' was starting to get stuck in my head, and I **hate** getting songs stuck in there, even songs that are good (and this certainly wasn't)! My head's too crowded already. Lotsa stories and characters and insanity-goop all stuffed up in there.

Freefel slept on, oblivious to my annoying torment, and she mumbled "The Object is here..." Odd, but I didn't have time to dwell on that.

'Counterattack!' I thought to myself frantically, 'Think of a different song!' So I began rapidly muttering the lyrics of "Bones Shatter" to myself, going faster as I went on.

"A bone shatters, fall apart and hit the floor, if it doesn't thrill you it doesn't matter anymore, bones shatter c'mon don't go out this time, uh, oh what were the next lyrics, umm, oh yeah, no matter where you been or who you are if it doesn't kill you it's sure to leave a horrible scar bones shatter c'mon don't goou-"

I stopped when I heard the Bieber 'song' pause, and I let out a sigh of relief. It's not that the 'song' was actually causing me physical pain; it's just that it was so very annoying and girly and able to stick in my poor head.

"I do not see how this could be causing you pain," Starscream told me, befuddled, "I thought that humans were supposed to **enjoy** hearing female singers."

"If they're **good** singers," I snapped with a hiss, "And sing about something that the listening human actually **likes** or **agrees with**. And **that**, what you just tortured my ears and ShortCircuit's audio-receptors with, **that's**! Not! A! Female!" This last part was whisper-shouted as I whammed my head repeatedly against the pillow for emphasis.

"...Oh." Starscream stated.

"**Yeah**."

"...Are you quite certain that was not a female human?"

"Yes."

"...Euughh."

"Yep. Wouldn't you have known that? You said you have easy-access or something to the internet all the time!"

"I don't use it to look up human music, human. I use your planet's internet for information when I need it. And I most certainly did not need **that** in my processor."

"I not either," ShortCircuit interjected. Though her tone was timid-sounding, I could feel her indignation at Starscream for subjecting us both to it. For **no reason**!

"Well, then now you'll both know what to expect if you aggravate me again," Starscream stated, still sounding miffed.

"You twit!" I yell-hissed at him, "Bad! Very bad Screamer! Bad Decepticon! No treat!"

"You are comparing me to an Earthen **pet**?!" he demanded, furious. "Yes!" I hissed, "And if you were here right now, I'd give you a Gibbs-head-slap!"

There was a pause as I waited for him to respond. 'Is he looking that up on the internet?' I thought at ShortCircuit, and she replied mentally, 'Probably.'

Then we both yelped as Starscream blasted another few seconds of the 'song' through the comlink, and I fell off my bed in surprise.

"Whhh... mrffuh?" Freefel mumbled as she woke up, "Where'za Great Mouse?"

The comlink switched off with the sound of Starscream's satisfied chuckling. I was huddled on the floor, twitching melodramatically and muttering to myself, "Horrible nightmares, horrible nightmares..."

"Seekjei?" Freefel asked, sitting up, "You ok?"

"Noooooo," I hissed, shuddered, and then returned to my absurd muttering.

Blindside popped up from almost nowhere, explaining, "Starscream was forcing ShortCircuit and Seekjei to listen to something called Justin Bieb-"

"WHAAATT?!" Freefel demanded, quietly of course, "That's cruel and unusual torture! Like school! What kind of sick 'Con **does** that?!"

"One who's gonna have tinfoil stuffed up his audio receptors," I promised grimly, climbing back into bed and recovering enough to start devising evil plans of revenge.

And then I fell asleep.

_Please don't take this chapter too seriously. It's just a random weird sort-of filler chapter. I don't hate the 'singer' personally, I just hate the guy's girly voice and how weirdly popular it made him. Everyone seems to need a random famous person to hate, or at least greatly dislike. So, I hope I haven't offended people, but if I have, I am sorry._


	62. Chapter 62

_Hiii! I would've updated a day or two ago, but I indulged myself in a day of marvelous doing-almost-nothing, and it was fantastic. So, now I'm back again, and ready to type!_

_To __AutobotSoShi__: Your brother has good taste then. At least in my opinion._

_To __707cloud__: YAAAY! I'm so happy that you liked it, thanks! Yeah, the stuff Freefel was mumbling were random phrases that we and a friend came up with, but my sis DID once have a dream about a giant Cheerio... Heh heh heh, yeah, I was very pleased with how that part of my chapter turned out, and I'm glad you enjoyed it too. Ok, I'll try to update sooner._

_To __Cutie Kyuubi__: Woohoo1 You awesome people make me so happy with your kindness of wonderful compliments! Thank you! Ah, and thank you again for supplyin that word, t'is a useful word when referring to jetpacks and such. Yes, yes he is. Hahahaha, I thought it was 'Beaver' when I first heard it, and I still call him a beaver sometimes too._

_To EHSparkwoman: Yep. Ah, my sister and I have many a devious plot lurking in our brains, so there shall be punishments indeed for the Screamer. Umm, I think they recharge, sort of like sleeping. Hmmm, I LIKE that idea... But we don't know where Starscream stays when he's recharging- __**yet**__, so for now, that may be difficult to do. Yeah, same here._

_Thank you all so very much, you excellent reviewing-people! I appreciate yer' compliments, comments, ideas, and advice so very much! And now, the chapter!_

That day, I got ½ the day off from the evilness of the torture facility known as High School, for there were midterms.

So, enjoying being able to come home early, I spent my glorious free time chatting with our Mini-Transformers, Blindside, and ShortCircuit. I found out that the mini-TFs had actually been the ones to help Blindside design his custom jet-pack alt-mode, which he still needed to tweak a bit.

From what ShortCircuit let me know of him, Blindside was a bit of an amateur inventor/ scientist, since he always enjoyed building simple gadgets and finding out how to make and learn about stuff.

So he was like a really meek, non-explode-y little Wheeljack. So cute! At this mental reaction from me, I felt a mix of alarm, surprise, and miffedness from ShortCircuit.

'What?' I inquired mentally, 'I meant cute like a bright little kid or an adorable ferret.' '...Oh,' she responded sheepishly, a little wave of relief emanating from her, and then she hissed at me when I mentally sent a smug, realizing smirk at her.

The smirk turned into a scowl when she yanked one of her needle-wires a little out of my spine, but I still knew I was right. Ha.

So. Anyway, while Freefel and I had been at school, ShortCircuit and the Mini-TFs had stayed home to help Blindside reconfigure his alt-mode so that he could fly better. He'd need a person to help him fly and give directions sometimes of course, so some convincing was needed to get Freefel to agree.

She still didn't like anything to do with heights though. Silly sister; it'd already been... what, almost a day? Huh. Never mind then. It'd just felt way longer.

Anyway again, little G1 Starscream (whose box had been mysteriously torn open before I found and bought him) and big G1 Skywarp (who we'd recently found locked in a cabinet with a mini chibi G1 Shockwave and mini chibi G1 Megatron) gave Blindside a challenge.

If he could catch them as they flew and ran around and hid in one room of the house, they'd help him out with designing his alt-mode. Blindside had agreed, and Freefel and I- trapped at school- had missed it. Curse you, school!

But ShortCircuit and the Mini-TFs later told us how it turned out. It had been... spectacular! Blindside won! The two little fliers- one small and one tiny- had flown around the room, hidden in random places, darting from one location to the next, done evasive maneuvers, but Blindside had still caught them!

"How?" I asked him in amazement, so he explained, quietly at first, and then with a tiny hint of pride showing through his shyness.

"My optics have almost no room to connect with my processor, which is why I am unable to see," Blindside told me, "But they developed that way because my other senses take up more room in my processor than most other Cybertronians'.

So I could feel the air currents as the two ran or flew past me, or feel a vibration when they landed, and trace their paths from the scent trails that were left."

*blink blink* "...You... could **smell** them?" I asked slowly. "Yes," Blindside answered, "They smell of plastic. The smaller Starscream smells of carboard, and the larger Skywarp smells of wood and dust."

*blink* "Cool!" I exclaimed, "I would've thought that your hearing would be the most sensitive though."

"I do have a sense of hearing that is above the average ability of many Cybertronians, and frequently notice sounds that others do not," he told me, "But it my audio receptors do not take up as much connection-room as do my other senses."

"That's pretty neat," I told him, ShortCircuit giving a light trill of agreement, and I gently patted his shoulder for emphasis. I noticed that he only flinched a little bit this time. Previously, he'd look almost terrified of any physical contact from anyone, poor guy.

This time, he gave a small smile and said thank you, which made me want to 'squee' and hug 'im, he was just so cute. This made ShortCircuit a bit miffed at me again, so I mentally suggested that **she** give Blindside a hug. She disconnected her head wires almost immediately.

ShortCircuit had reconnected to my spine when I came back from school, and had told me that Starscream had called while I'd been away. (This brought the image of ShortCircuit-as-a-secretary to my mind, which was odd, since I don't really know or care what exactly a secretary is supposed to look like.)

She told me that Starscream had ordered her to stay on me, so she had to. This was displeasing to us **both**, especially when I had to use my/ our wonderful free time to do studying for the next midterms.

Studying- especially for school-stuff that you have no interest in- is, as everyone surely knows, exceptionally boring and annoying. Doubly so when there are **two** persons studying and being bored/ annoyed.

Bored out of her processor- and my mind- ShortCircuit told me that she could just download the information visually and then tell it to me during the tests, but I refused.

"That'd be cheating," I told her. "You is sound like Autobot," she sniffed, and I thanked her. "Is no compliment!" ShortCircuit objected exasperatedly, "Is insult!"

"I'm too tired to care," I complained to her, "My brain can't work right with all this school-information-that-has-no-use-in-real-life stuffed into it... Oh wait, never mind; I've already forgotten most of it."

ShortCircuit sighed in pity/ mild scorn for the pitifulness of humans- or at least me. The pity vanished when I lightly bonked her on the head with my hand, and she bit said-hand.

Ah yes. Life is good.


	63. Chapter 63

_Hi! Not much going on here; ferrets being crazy, school being blah, my sister and I being insane, life as usual. But good, very good indeed. Oh, and it snowed! Yaaaayy!_

_To __AutobotSoShi__: Heh heh, Yes, but ShortCircuit has no reason to be jealous; I think Blindside's adorable like a little cousin or our Mini-TFs are adorable. _

_To __707cloud__: Thanks. Hahaha, yeah, 'normal' kinda loses it's meaning in our , I just saw two clouds that looked like a question mark and a shrimp/prawn thingy! See? Normal-ness is insanity. Thanks, thank you muchly!_

_To __Blackhooves__: Thank you very muchly much! Wow, so many compliments! Thank you for them all! You're a really great Fanfiction writer/ author too! I'll leave a review for one of yer' Fanfics after I finish typing up this chapter._

_To __Link's Rose__: Well, I'm very glad that you are indeed alive, ha ha. Aw, cool! I have Freefel, my younger sis, but I have no idea what having a little brother's like; I hope for you it's good! Ackh, writer's block, a much-hated enemy (I'm just typing up pre-written chapters, I haven't __**written**__ any for weeks)! Huh, bi-polar? I've heard of the diagnosis, but I don't know what it means..._

_To __Cutie Kyuubi__: Same fer me right now. I rarely study at all; I just forget most of it by the time I finish reading two pages! Huh, kinda the opposite for me- math drives me crazy with all the equations to memorize. __OH! I think you're the 200th reviewer! COOL!_

_To __EHSparkwoman__: Probably, and I __**will**__ try to spend more time with my Cybertronian sister. Oh- no, don't worry about Little Skywarp and Littler Starry; Blindside was very gentle catching them, and they like having a challenge, t'is good flying practice. Ah, ok, thank you, I'll go look that up now...Ah. Interesting. What is it about exactly?_

_And now, on with the chappy-ter!_

Life was quite good... Until Starscream decided to wake me up at some random time again that night. I considered once again my promise regarding tinfoil...

"Wha-aat?" I moaned quietly to Starscream across the comlink, "It's after 11:00 PM! I'm tired...!" I was **very** tired, but managed not to snap at the Decepticon. If I did, that might make whatever-was-about-to-happen worse.

"I wanted to say something regarding yesterday night," Starscream told me, sounding just the teeniest possible bit regretful, "About forcing you to listen to that..."

"You're going to apologize, aren't you?" I asked triumphantly, immensely pleased.

There was this funny noise he made, sort of ½ guiltily horrified gasp, ½ disgusted exclamation of offended superiority.

"That is absurd!" Starry retorted, and it didn't matter whether or not he meant it; I had already convinced myself that he had been going to apologize, "Why would I ever say 'sorry' to a human?"

"Well, you just did!" I chuckled smugly, adding in sugary-sweetly, "And I accept." A sound of exasperation came through ShortCircuit's comlink.

"Rrhg, I **wasn't** going to a**pol**ogize!" he snapped, then a smirk entered his tone, "In fact, just to prove it..." "Oh goodness, no! Don't you **DARE** play that music video!" I protested/ demanded.

"Erm, I wasn't going to," Starscream stated, "I deleted that video-link from my memory banks seconds after torturing you with it." "And poor ShortCircuit!" I added in, "You made **her** suffer through it too!"

I felt a little glow of appreciation from ShortCircuit, which I returned with a firm sense of sisterly affection and protectiveness.

A happily startled, mental gasp responded, 'Is like me and Frenzy! Siblings is together and both is protect both. Thank you.' 'You're very welcome,' I thought back, then realized that Starscream had been talking.

"Uh, sorry," I told him, "What'd you say?" He growled in irritation, replying, "I had **said**, that I can easily keep bothering you across the femme's comlink."

'HER NAME IS SHORTCIRCUIT!' I mentally yelled at him, imagining an image of myself floating and bonking his head with a giant wooden mallet. Not that it'd do any damage, but still. ShortCircuit laughed with my thoughts, agreeing whole-heartedly/sparkedly.

I kept silent as I realized that once again, I'd missed some of what Starscream had been saying. "...ay on the human so that I will be able to keep tabs on it."

"'Keep tabs on'?" I asked scornfully, "Pffhahaha, where'd you learn **that** phrase? Don't you have Cybertronian sayings?"

There was an impatient growl from Starscream, and then an annoyed stream of Cybertronian words. 'Uhhh... ShortCircuit?' I thought uncertainly, 'Help?'

She translated the speech into English for me, the gist of it being "You are foolish, insolent little squishy meat bag, you would do well not to mock me, I'll find another horrible song to torture you with."

I frowned, pouting, "You are a mean person, Starry." "Mm," he replied, faintly smug-sounding, and in a tone that made me picture him tilting his head and shrugging disinterestedly.

With a gloating chuckle, Starscream ended his comlink transmission, and I went back to sleep, after muttering nasty things about that 'Con. ShortCircuit muttered stuff about him in Cybertronian, which was interesting.

Then we were both woken up around 1:00 AM the next morning by a shout of "HUMAN!"

"Uuuuuhhhhh," I groaned at Starscream, "Shut. Up." He just cackled.

"Shut! Up!" I repeated, "I have midterms today!" "**Really**?" Starscream inquired in a terrifyingly, horrifically gleeful voice, probably after looking up what midterms were, "That sounds **excellent**."

I moaned into my pillow at the injustice of it all. The bothering didn't stop there; it continued throughout nearly the entire day!

Ever try taking a big, difficult test when a small robotic alien on yer' back and in yer' head is trying to give you the right answers but you don't want to cheat? **And** while a giant robotic alien is periodically yelling "HUMAN!" in your ears? It's tough man, it's really tough.

Thankfully the day afterwards was Saturday, so I was at least able to sleep in. Even though Starscream had woken me up after midnight and just before 5:00 AM.

I felt pretty sure that if I ever heard anyone say the word 'human' ever again, I would probably instinctively yell at them to shut up because they were unfair, cruel torturers.

It also didn't help that the Screaming One had found another Beiber 'music' video to torment us with. My plans for revenge now included tinfoil, fishing line, a portable CD player, and masses of duct tape.

My revenge-plotting was interrupted by a shout of "HUMAN!" and horrible 'music,' and yet again just after midnight on Sunday. Couldn't I even get a break on the weekends?!

I added a chainsaw and pink paint to my list of Hypothetical Items Needed For Revenge.


	64. Chapter 64

_Yo! Here I be! ...Well. It's March 13, 3/14, Pi Day. Doesn't feel any different._

_To __707cloud__: Hahahahaha, YAAAYYYY! I'm so very __**very**__ muchly much glad to have made a chapter that made you laugh so much! Hahaha, oh goodness, yer' laugh-filled review is making __**me**__ laugh too! Thank you! Ah yes, the torture, heh heh. Pffft, hahaha, thanks!_

_To __Cutie Kyuubi__: Yes, I believe so. Yes, indeed it is awesome! Ohhh yes, Starscream just __**loves**__ bothering me, he does. Pfft, ha ha, maybe you read that book about the mouse who lives in a hotel, speaks, and rides a motorcycle? (I forget the book's name though.)_

_To __Blackhooves__: GAH! I am SOOOO sorry for not reviewing on any of your Fanfictions like I'd said I would! I'm so sorry! I just totally forgot, my brain forgets stuff so much, I'm sorrrryyyyy! ...Mrrff. Thank you, very muchly. Yer' welcome. ...I still feel so bad for not reviewing. FireFlare reviewed, with our shared username._

_To __EHSparkwoman__: Oooh yes he is! Heh heh heh, good idea! I shall find some fluffy pink fabric and put it to good (devious) use! Pffftahahahaha, __**yes**__! __**Yes**__ he is a __**chipmunk**__, hahaha. Hmm, ok. It sounds interesting, so thank you._

_And, on with the chapter!_

Later that Sunday, our mom was in a nasty mood, so Freefel, the 'Cons, and I all hid in Freefel's-and-my room.

It was one of their favorite rooms in the house, since it had three excellent, easily-accessible hiding places: the closet, under my bed, and under Freefel's bed. Or, they could bundle up the bed-covers and hide under them.

Also, the room had the windows as escape routes. Well, maybe not very pleasant escape routes, since they were on the second floor (they could at least climb onto the lower roof), and they'd have to break the windows if need be, but still.

While we waited for Freefel's-ad-my mom to quit her muttering/ semi-shouting nasty things to herself, Freefel and I tried to think of something to do.

Since the 'Cons were kinda bored and stuck in our room too, they tried to think up stuff too. Well, as we were all thinkin' away, ShortCircuit and I heard a faint sound, which I was beginning to recognize as the sound of a comlink switching on.

"HUMAN!" Starscream yelled, and, though not entirely surprised, I winced.

"Man, you are **loud**, Starscream," I griped, "That name suits you." "Why?" he asked smugly, "Because it's exciting, dramatic, and poetic?"

I blinked, faintly confused, "Well, your name **is** that, but I... don't... Oh! You still remember what I said that first day we met, in the snow! And yeah, but that's not the only reason yer' name fits ya'. Yer' very noisy and hurt my ears."

"And audio-receptiors," ShortCircuit added in bravely.

"Hmph," was all Starscream stated, before he starting up the hated 'music,' making ShortCircuit and I cringe and moan.

I glimpsed Freefel staring at me, and I rolled my eyes in annoyance, begging her, "Sing something! Please! Now! LOUDLY!"

"Keep it down!" I heard our mother yell from downstairs. ShortCircuit, Freefel, and I all hissed at her. Freefel noticed this simultaneous reaction and chuckled, while Blindside looked rather startled, but not scared at least.

ShortCircuit and I however, were not amused. "SING SOMETHING!" I demanded of Freefel in a whisper, "'Bones Shatter!' 'Time Of Dying!' **Something**, Freefel, c'mon! Pleeaase!"

The realization of ShortCircuit's-and-my shared 'musical' torture finally clicked in her brain, and Freefel started singing 'Time Of Dying' by Three Days Grace.

"Yes!" ShortCircuit and I both thanked her, though Freefel could only hear me, "Louder! Faster!" For some reason, I find fast songs more able to get other songs un-stuck from my head.

A bit miffed at my bossiness (well-intended though it was), Freefel complied, and soon she and I were singing the song together. We couldn't remember all of the lyrics, or in order, so we switched over to 'Tourniquet' by Evanescence.

Thankfully, we managed to mostly drown out Screamer's 'music' torture, and he finally turned it off, promising to bother me again later. That 'Con is nothing if not persistent. Well, and ambitious. And sneaky. And clever. And annoying. And- Yeah, ok, he's a lot a' things.

Anyway. Just because, Freefel and I finished up the song, grinning in triumph at how well we sang it. Wait, is it 'sang' or 'sung'? We sing-sang-songed it. No that's not it... Ah, whatever.

Anyway, at around 9:50 PM that night, Blindside scuttled over to where I was trying to sleep, still poised to turn on a nearby CD player and put headphones on.

I hadn't been sure if putting on headphones over ShortCicuit's might hurt her or not, so we'd tried putting different pairs on earlier. The light-weight kind with thin, simple speakers were good, and hardly put any uncomfortable pressure on her audio receptors.

Now, I twitched at hearing Blindside say my name, my finger almost pressing the 'play' button on the CD player out of reflex. Then I noticed that the voice speaking was the still-slightly-timid-but-now-more-faintly-shy voice of Blindside, instead of Starscream's loud, gravelly voice.

"Wha tizzit?" I asked blearily, blinking away my tiredness. "I can sense two Autobot energy-signatures outside," Blindside told me.

"What?" I asked, waking up a bit more and pushing myself up to a kneeling position. My jolt of interest and surprise woke up ShortCircuit, who had managed to recharge a little bit.

"What is happen now?" she asked tiredly, and noticed the energy-signatures herself just as I mentally told Blindside's news to her.

"Oh," she stated, vaguely surprised, but not nearly as scared as she'd been of the Autobots before. They were nicer than Screamer most times, at least.

I dragged myself out of bed to stand, a bit wobbly when I moved too fast. I figured that Freefel would want to know about the Autobots being here.

Thankfully, my sister wasn't too deeply asleep, and she woke up quickly enough after I shook her by the shoulder. I'd been very tempted to lightly pull her hair to wake her up, but this would have just made her angry at me, and it is NOT a good idea to get my sister angry.

So, Freefel took her turn removing the window screen, and I slithered out, with ShortCircuit still attached to my spine. Then we flapped our wings a couple feet above the lower roof, ready to help in case Freefel or Blindside slipped.

I cringed at the thought, and how uncomfortably loud our wing beats were in the quiet, dark night. The only noises came from us four, occasionally a breeze, and a few dead leaves crackling across the street.

I was worried that anyone up late, or walking their dog or something, might hear or see us. I had noticed the two extra vehicles in our driveway quite easily, but perhaps that was because Blindside had told me that they were here.

One was familiar, silver and sleek: Jazz! The other one I wasn't sure of: it was rather block-shaped, and I couldn't make out the colors of it's silhouette very well, what with the dark of night and the glare of light from our neighbor's lamp-post.

I quickly turned my attention back to Freefel and Blindside when my sister let out a gasp as she almost slipped. I darted forward, but she had already recovered her footing, and was panting in mingled adrenaline-rush and determination.

Blindside cocked his head at her, pressed his hands lightly to the roof for a couple seconds, and continued. ShortCircuit explained that he was feeling for vibrations through the roof, so he'd sense if Freefel's movements were steady.

Reaching the edge with one foot, he held onto the roof's low, slanting edge, swung down, and let go, landing with precision in the bare garden below. The hard mulch hardly made any noise under his pointed feet.

I'd noticed that his feet had long, pointy toes that spread out like a lizard's or gecko's. ShortCircuit told me that he used them for walking quietly and remembering where he was.

It was like mapping out locations just by touch-memory! Amazing!

I noticed a glow of pride from ShortCircuit as I silently praised her friend's abilities, and I mentally agreed with her before she could feel embarrassed.

We helped Freefel clamber down so that she could hold on to the gutter of the roof's lowest edge- as Blindside had done- and safely drop less than two feet onto the garden mulch.

Freefel and Blindside trekked along across the cold grass toward the two Autobots, ShortCircuit and I fluttering after them.

"Hey, lil' ones," Jazz greeted, and Blindside nervously flinched away, still frightened by being anywhere near 'the enemy,' who- he had admitted- weren't as energon/blood-thirsty as he had been led to believe or had experienced in battle.

"Hi Jazz!" Freefel squeaked in excitement, and I could see her enormous grin even in the dark. Blindside's pale optics gave enough faint light to see by, so that helped as well.

"So," I asked, "What's up? It's great to se you, but how come you and... whoever-it-is, are here so suddenly?"

"Ah," Jazz replied, a grin in his voice, "Me an' Ratch' thought t' s'prise all you. W found 'nuther lil' 'Con!"

_Blackhooves__! Since my sis FireFlare already reviewed, here be MY review fer yer' sixth "Running Free" chapter. "Wow, great chapter! It's so nice that she got the toy horse to make her feel happier. Oooohh, I wonder what's gonna happen with that surgery... Is she gonna be like a techno organic or something? Eep, it's so exciting! Again, thank you SO much for mentioning me." I'll put it in as "CrazyCatGirl."_


	65. Chapter 65

_Yo! So very sorry for not updating sooner, I've been feeling ill and being all twitchy from worrying about homework during Spring Vacation and I just haven't updated! I've been too apathetic to do much. And one of our fish, Dersta, died, so I was sad. Sorry again!_

_To__707cloud__: Yay, glad yer' so excited about it! Ooh really? I like funny ideas. *reads the idea, starts snickering* HahahaHAHA, that's hilarious! Oh my word, in fact, I'm gonna try to put as much of that idea as I can in this chapter now! That is a GREAT idea, *snickers again* ha ha ha, I love it! Oh, thank you! Thank you very muchly muchly much!_

_To __Cutie Kyuubi__: Heh heh, yup, Ratchet it is! Actually, he was in the 56__th __. 57__th__, and 58__th__ chapters, but only vaguely described as 'a light colored Autobot with colored markings.' Oh yeah, that was an interesting little book. I can't even remember the last time I thought of it. _

_To __EHSparkwoman__: Yup, Jazz is always back! Nope, Frenzy's safe with Barri' (Barricade). Oh, Ratchet does mind, but he pities them, so he doesn't try to hurt them with his famous Wrench of Doom. Ohoho, don't you worry; in a couple chapters, there shall indeed be a punishment for Screamy! And it shall be funny (I hope)!_

_To __AutobotSoShi__: Hahaha, wow, really? I'm... I'm honored. Ha, thanks, but I certainly don't own any 'Evanescence' songs at all (I __**WISH**__ I could to claim to own even ONE of those incredible songs, but I don't.). Yep, me too!_

_To __RatchetsGirl__: Ooh, a Ratchet fan you are?Cool. My chapter, epic? Not epic, but thank you so much! Haha, which part of the chapter are you saying this of? Showing 'em FanFiction? Thank you for reviewing!_

_To __Blackhooves__: You're welcome. Oh, ok. I just still feel so very bad for not reviewing after I had said that I would! Thank you very much for your forgiveness, and thank you so very muchly much for the compliments and reviews that you give me so much!_

_Ok, now, ON TO THE CHAPTER!_

How, you may ask, did I respond to this epically exciting news of the discovery of another little 'Con?

I blinked for a couple seconds, my brain working very slowly. "...Cool." After another second of slow thought, I added in apologetically, "Sorry I'm not more enthusiastic. I'm so tired; Starscream's been t-"

I stopped as a painfully loud screech filled my ears and ShortCircuit's audio-receptors, "SILENCE, HUMAN!"

I yelped and bent over, holding my head and muttering "ow, ow, ow" to myself and ShortCircuit made pained, whimpering-mewling noises.

"Ackh, Starscream, what is **wrong** with you?" I asked him indignantly, straightening up and fingering my ears, "Auhh, that **hurt**!"

"How many times have I ordered you to tell the Autobots **nothing**?!" the aggravated Decepticon demanded angrilly, to which ShortCircuit and I retorted blandly, "Too many."

Then ShortCircuit and I both wailed aloud as the ever-so-cruel Screamer turned on, and poured through the comlink, another 'song.'

(_Hey, __707cloud__! Here's how I put in your idea! Or at least, the best I can do here!_)

I actually tried to run away from it, got my hair tangled in an evergreen tree, turned around, ran the other way, and then tripped over a small, leafless, bush. So I fell on the ground, bruised my leg slightly on our brick walkway, and squirmed around, kicking my legs spastically.

As we writhed in misery (and I got upon my knees and shook around in some bizarre, gyrating spasm), I distantly noticed Freefel and nervous Blindside concernedly trying to explain to the very-confused Autobots what was afflicting me.

ShortCircuit and I were too busy freaking out to listen or pay attention, trying to keep the hideous 'music' out of our heads. ShortCircuit was making hissing and squealing noises and I was loudly muttering insults at Screamer, including some Shakespeare-ian ones that I'd gotten from a 'Lauren Cooper' video.

(_That video's got The Doctor in it, it's hilarious._)

Freefel inched over and tried to poke me. This did not help, and I swatted at her hand.

At that point I was jumping up and down in a circle with my hands on my head, hissing, and mutter-shrieking gibberish to myself and trying not to trip over the pointy stick bush again.

Another few seconds and I was clawing at my hair, stomping the ground with one foot, and bonking my head against our minivan, chanting at Stascream, "You are a sick, sick, sick, SICK 'Con, you evil, evil, evil, giant elf, you are sick, sick, sick...!"

(_Quick reference to 'iCarly' there, where Carly called Nevel an 'evil evil little elf.'_)

All of a sudden (_what an odd phrase. What is a 'sudden,' and how much of it is there?_), something big, metal, and thick wrapped around my arms and back.

"YEEEP!" I shrieked, but it was more of a breathless gasp, since I hadn't inhaled in a while. So I wrenched my head around in spasms as I tried to take on the double-threats of Cursed 'Singing' Torture and the Unidentified Large Object.

"Oh, be quiet," an annoyed, older-sounding voice muttered at me, then to ShortCircuit, "Stay still, Decepticon! I am simply shutting off your comlink."

ShortCircuit and I stayed as still as we could, considering the 'musical' torture we were still enduring, and the Unidentified Large Object (Ratchet's hand) released us.

It was uncomfortable for him to be working near the back of my head, and I thought I smelled burning hair, but a couple seconds later, the 'song' torture stopped. The comlink was silent, and we both sighed in blessed relief.

"Thank you soooo muuuch," I thanked Ratchet gratefully. ShortCircuit would have nodded in agreement, but she was a little freaked by having had an Autobot fiddle with her head, even for a good cause.

Blindside skittered over to make sure that we (ShortCircuit) were ok. The femme was delighted by his concern, and I smirked to myself.

Then we were off to go see the new little Decepticon that the 'Bots had found.

Freefel and Blindside sat in Jazz's alt-mode on the way there, while ShortCircuit and I rested in Ratchet's, probably so he could sedate me or something if I started freaking out like I had before.

I think Jazz would have actually enjoyed seeing me freak again. I was almost **certain** I'd heard his muffled laughter through some of my hysteria earlier.

But I was too tired for that. Not enough sleep, torture by 'music,' and tons of adrenaline in my system= LET ME SLEEP. So I think I did sleep, but I was too tired to notice.

Until Ratchet opened the door that I'd been leaning against and I fell out onto the dirt.

"Ack, plah, plah!" I muttered as I spat bits of grass and twigs out of my mouth, "Iiihhck. Well **that** woke me up! Ptah! I should really have used the seatbelt."

"Well," Ratchet chuckled drily, "You humans **are** known for being a reckless species." I rolled my eyes good-humoredly and grinned.

I glanced around as I got up, and realized that we were at the same place that I'd been when I first met Starry. Hm. Guess it was a good hiding spot/ meeting place for 'Bots **and** 'Cons.

As Ratchet stretched a bit, I wandered over to look at some trees, idly wondering if I could climb any of th- AAA!

A huge metal hand lunged out of the dark woods at me, and I shrieked. ShortCircuit, who'd been recharging, yelped too.

Being strangely used to keeping quiet though, I immediately clasped my hands over my mouth, even as I sidestepped/clumsily sashayed away. I glanced around for a large stick or small branch to hit the hand-thingy with.

And then I was astonished to hear a young, laughing voice from farther away, "Hahaha, that was **great**, Sideswipe! Did'ja see her expression? Ha hah ha." More laughter was heard from the direction of the hand-being, and trees creaked as said-being moved out from them.

"Oh my goodness, it's the TWINS?!" Freefel exclaimed, sounding ecstatic, "They're real too?!" "Ah' course we're real!" called a mock-indignant voice, as a silver-and-yellow Autobot emerged from the farther-away trees.

A silver-and-red Autobot also emerged; he'd been the one who struck out his hand at me. (I couldn't see what color they were, but they told us later.) I was too thrilled to meet them to be resentful. ShortCircuit was still miffed, understandably.

"Heh heh heh," Jazz chuckled, "'Lil ladies, may Ah int'duce... the twins!"

For a few seconds, Freefel and I both stared at the two 'Bots before us. Then, almost simultaneously, we dropped to our knees and said, "We are not worthy, we are not worthy!"

"You two are the greatest pranksters ever!" Freefel declared excitedly.

"At least so says the Fanfiction," I added in, "I've been trying to find episodes of G1 or something where you guys do pranks, but I haven't seen any. So is it true? You really are epic pranksters?"

I saw what might've been a smirk on Sunstreaker's face, but Sideswipe told us, "Don't believe **everything** you read."

Freefel and I gasped in horror. "You mean you don't do pranks?" I asked, probably looking like a kid who's just been told that Disney World doesn't exist or something.

"I didn't say that," Sideswipe replied, a faint grin audible in his voice.

I cocked my head, "Are you trying to mess with me?"

"No," Sideswipe told me, just as Sunstreaker responded, "Yes."

I laughed, "That's ok! I'm already so messed up!"

"Very true," Freefel stated, nodding sagely/ wisely, "But, please, you Twins Of Epicness, you **do** enjoy pranking, right? 'Cause we have a Decepticon in serious need of some humbling."

Their faces lit up (literally, they grinned and their optics glowed brighter) even more when I told them who it was.

_Ok, I know this took a really long time for me to update; I've been typing bits and pieces of it for about three days! Anyway, here's a longer (hopefully good and funny) chapter to make up for the wait. Thank you!_


	66. Chapter 66

_Halloo! I'm currently watching my crazy Dad tussle with our crazy Ferrets, being grumpy about all the changes were made from the "The Host" book for the movie, and being wistfully regretful that Spring Vacation is nearly over. Aaaannd now my Dad is making up a story about the Decepticons using Ferrets to distract the Autobots! Ahh, the madness, the wonderful madness..._

_Oi, now our Dad is narrating that ferrets got inside Megatron's head, and made him mess up the other Decepticons' names: Knockout= Sknockout or Knockknock (and has decided that he REALLY needs to fix Megatron's audio-processor) and Screamer is Tarscream. And Megatron is completely distracted by the ferrets and it was the Autobots' plan all along. Oh, once again, the madness, the maaaadeeess!_

_Oh goodness- And now our Dad is introducing Irkens from "Invader Zim" into the idea! AAA! Knockout and Nachos and Tallests, oh my! AAAA!_

_To __WhiteCougarMatrix117__: Ooh, neat name! Wow, really? I'd hoped it'd be funny; I'm so glad it made you laugh so much! Ohh, yes he is! Thanks! Ok, I will! And thank you very much fer' reviewing!_

_To __Blackhooves__: Yeah, it was a sort of a spontaneous thing, but later had the purpose of pranking Starscream. Yeah, I wish there could some video __**SOMEWHERE**__ as evidence that the twins enjoy pranking! I've only seen their pranking mentioned on Fanfiction! Thank you!_

_To __707cloud__: Heh heh heh, yeeessss, it will (hopefully) be marvelously hilarious and insaaaane...! HaHA, I LOVED the idea! I was hilarious, and I thank you for telling me the idea! Thank you, ok!_

_To __AutobotSoShi__: Hahaha, yep, I love those crazy twins too! Wow, it seriously made you laugh THAT much? I'm so happy! I love it when I can make people laugh!_

_To __Cutie Kyuubi__: Heh heh, I think we humans are both! Reckless AND fun! Ok, just wanted to mention the other bits of the story where he was vaguely mentioned, so it's not like he's appearing out of nowhere. Ok, haha._

_To __EHSparkwoman__: Yahoo! I __**think**__ I've seen a G1 episode where they used their Jet Judo... Yup, the long days of revenge-plotting shall all be worth it, MwaahahaHAAA! Ooh, good idea! Maybe dead, wet grass, so it sticks and is all crumbly! Woohoo!_

_And now ON TO THE CHAPTEEERRRRR!_

"So, you clear on the plan?" Sunstreaker asked me for maybe the... what? Sixth time?

'Hey, just 'cause I'm a puny human doesn't mean I have to concept of how pranks work, ok, Sir Snooty Twin?' I thought, mentally sounding tetchy/ snarky.

Don't worry, I wasn't really annoyed at him- how could I be really annoyed at such an awesome, pranking, Transformer? Wow, haven't called 'em 'transformers' for a while- they're Cybetronians. But back to the point.

"Yes, Streaky," I replied, smiling sugary-sweetly, "I'm clear on the Plan Of Pranks."

The golden-and-silver Autobot looked at me with one of the most disturbed expressions I've ever seen on a Cybertronian's face. ( **~0** is the best way I can show it on the computer.)

"Don't... Don't **call** me that," he told me, still with the hilarious expression on his face.

"Better get used to it," Sideswipe laughed, smirking, "That's yer new nickname from now on! ...**Streaky**. Nice job, girl!"

I quirked a sideways grin, "**Thank** you, Swiper!"

(_I don't own "Krypto the Superdog" or "Dora the Explorer." If I did own that one, I'd probably start writhing on the floor and singing the darkest 'Evanescence' and 'Three Days Grace' songs that I know of. 'Tourniquet' or 'Bleed' and 'Time Of Dying.' Oh, and maybe 'Bad Apple,' in English. Dunno what band does that one._)

Almost immediately, his grimace perfectly matched that of Sunstreaker, who was now the one smirking at his twin.

Freefel observed me with a deadpan expression, "What is it with you and nicknames?" I shrugged modestly.

"Raht then," Jazz chuckled, "You all done with yer' deev'yus plottin'?" I nodded. "Alright-y then," the Epic Autobot laughed, "Then I'll getcha home. 'Long with the lil' 'Con femme we found."

"Awesome!" I replied, "That sounds great. Thank you, Jazz."

'Oh, yes,' ShortCircuit thought, still tired, 'Maybe femme them did find is friend. I is hoping so.' 'Me too,' I told her, 'Now you just rest, ok? You're suffering far more from lack of recharging than I am.'

'Rested while us was coming here,' she responded drowsily, trying to wake herself up in anticipation of meeting another little 'Con.

I sighed affectionately for my Cybertronian adopted-sister. 'I could try to think of something insane to wake you up,' I suggested, but she mentally waved my help away.

"I will fetch the little Decepticon," Ratchet told us, walking away and picking his way through the trees.

A moment later, we heard his exclamation of surprise and an odd,chittering yelp. ShortCircuit identified the sound for me as a Cybertronian version of "Boo!"

"Sideswipe!" Ratchet called, "She's- ah... heading your way!"

Everyone turned to look in the silver-and-red twin's direction. Or at least in the direction of his glowing blue optics.

Everyone looked around as we heard grass, dead leaves, and twigs rustling. Everyone's optics and eyes, searching for glowing optics a few feet above the ground, suddenly looked down at less than a foot off the ground.

Because that's where the Decepticon's optics were. Upsidedown.

Yes, the Decepticon – about human sized, a little smaller – was laying upside-down on it's back, and pushing itself along forwards by it's feet, with it's head facing us. Upside-down.

"Uh... huhh..." I stated slowly.

Sideswipe had been leaning down to snatch the little Decepticon, but stopped and stood back up, even as Ratchet came rushing back through the trees.

"She wakes up **fast**," the medic told us, astonished, "I thought the little femme was going totry to escape, but instead she just..."

I looked down at the 'Con, who was rapidly approaching, still upside-down. The Decepticon's bright coloration made her startlingly visible in the dark, lit up by two bright green optics, which widened as the 'Con cocked her head.

"Hello," Blindside greeted her hesitantly, "Excuse me, who are you?"

Almost instantly, the Decepticon leaped to her feet, cocking her head rapidly and moving around with quick little twitches and motions, like a hyperactive pigeon.

"SillyBlindsideDon'tYouRecognizeMeByMyVoiceOhWaitN oIDidn'tTalkBeforeThisSoHiIt'sSoGreatToEncounterYo uAgainI'mSoGladYou'reOkIt'sMeStaticWhatAreThoseTwo StrangeThingsStandingNearYouAreThereAnyOtherDecept iconsHereAreTheyTheBigNastyOnesOrLikeUsIReallyHope They'reLikeUsBecauseMostOfUsAreNicerSoWhereAreThey IfThereAreAny?"

...**Whoa**.

"Static!" ShortCircuit suddenly exclaimed ecstatically, "Static! Her is alive! Her is safe! Static! Static is good friend!"

Even as ShortCircuit was saying this, the Decepticon- Static- was continuing to speak.

"IwasWonderingIfThereWereAnyOtherDecepticonsHereIW asSoWorriedSinceTheAutobotsCaughtMeI'dJustBeenWand eringAroundAndTheStuffHereOnThisPlanetIsSoDifferen tItHasStuffOnTheGroundThatFeelsSOFTThereIsHardlyAn ythingOnCybertronThat'sSoftExceptClottingEnergonBu tThat'sMoreGooeyThanSoftButThereAreSoftThingsEvery whereHereAndIWasTouchingTheThinSoftThingsOnTheTall RoughThings-IThinkIHeardTheAutobotsCallThemTrees-A ndThenTheAutobotsFoundMeAndIWasGoingToRunButTheyHa dAlreadyCaughtMeAndThenIWokeUpWhenTheOlderOnePoked MeSoWhatAreYouDoingHereAreWePrisoners?"

Oh. My goodness. How was it physically possible for anything to talk that fast?! "Transformers Animated" Blurr would be jealous!

Blindside seemed used to this her-speed talking and smiled, looking thrilled and relieved, "It's so very good to meet you again, too Static. I'm so glad that you're still alive!"

'Static' nodded rapidly, "YesI'mSoGladTooBlindsideButI'mStillWonderingAreTh eAutobotsGoingToKeepUsPrisonerHereAreThereAnyOther DecepticonsAroundAreTheyPrisonersTooIDon'tBelieveI WouldMindThisPlaceEvenIfIWereKeptPrisonerHereBecau seThereAreSoManyNiceSoftThingsHereHowLongHaveYouBe enHereOnThisPlanetAreAllPlacesHereLikeThisPlaceAre ThereAnyOtherDecepticonsHereOrEvenNearby?"

"The Autobots are not going to keep us prisoner, Static," Blindside assured her, speaking as if to a curious child, "Several Autobots have been... very **kind**, and are very different from how we have been told, or have observed in the fighting."

Blindside seemed rather amazed at this statement, like a person who has just seen all laws of reality completely broken, twisted and reshaped, and then patched back together with pink duct-tape and covered in poisonous chocolate and flowers.

"The, ah, 'standing things' are the dominant species on this planet, which is called Earth," Blindside continued, recovering from his moment of mind-boggled-ness, "They are called humans, and they are our allies. And, yes, there are already other Decepticons on this planet, but ShortCircuit is the- sole other Decepticon in this exact location."

An unexpected fireworks-display of thrilled pleasure radiated from ShortCircuit. From what I overheard of her thinking, the gist of it was 'He didn't 'only'! He said 'sole'! Same thing, but nicer sounding! He's so nice!'

I only got a blurry, wordless sense of her thoughts though, because before Blindside had even finished speaking, Static had darted around looking for ShortCircuit.

"Um, here," I called awkwardly, "ShorCircuit's here. Uh, on my back." And before **I** had finished speaking, the Decepticon darted over to stare at me from about one foot away, chirping, "ShortCircuitShortCircuitWhereWhereWhere?"

ShortCircuit poked her head out from the back of my shirt collar and trilled a greeting, before mentally asking me to help her spread our wings.

We did, and Static's optics got even wider than before, if that was possible.

"Hey," Jazz called, and Static flinched, darting back a few inches, "Maybe y'all could get 'quainted on th' way back t' the lil' humans' home, a'right?" "Oh, right," I replied, "thanks."

Jazz stuck his hand jokingly in the air like a little kid, "I'll drive!" Which was good, since Ratchet was now patching up some minor wounds on the Twins, who'd started tussling with one another, fighting goo-naturedly over who'd come up with the best Prank ideas.

"Thank you again," Freefel thanked Jazz, "Hey, just wondering, how come Starscream hasn't barged in here? Wouldn't he have gotten miffed and followed us?"

"Heh heh heh, nope!" Jazz chuckled, "We got a couple a' ole' Wheeljack's signal-damp'ners here."

"A miracle they haven't exploded yet," Ratchet called over drily. "I'll bet **we** could find a way to make them explode!" offered one of the twins eagerly, only to get bonked on the head with a wrench. Heeheehee, that infamous wrench-wielding medic.

As Jazz transformed and Freefel coaxed Static inside, I hoped that **Starscream** wouldn't make **me** explode the instant he found me again.

That would be bad.


	67. Chapter 67

_Hii! Gah- I've been typing up bits and pieces of this chapter for about three days now! Sorry for not updating in a while. (__**Warning: over-used excuse approaching!**__) I've had a bunch of homework driving me crazy, and then my brain is too exhausted or twitchy to type up chapters! And I've been busy picking dandelions, washing our ferrets, and watching TV (Ha!). Also, our multitude of fish decided to have babies again, so I'm very miffed at them (I have to catch the who-knows-how-many baby fish and keep them safe in a net-thingy in the tank so they won't be eaten). Anyway, now that I'm typing, here we go!_

_To __Blackhooves__: Ha, really? Thank you, thank you so very muchly much! Heh heh heh, yeah, I surprised myself at how long Static's sentence/ speeches are. Hahaha, actually, I got the idea for writing her high-speed like that, from an Animorphs book, "The Weakness" (orangey yellow cover, with a blond girl turning into a cheetah.)_

_To __Cutie Kyuubi__: Haha, are you sure about that? Starscream __**can**__ have quite a temper sometimes... Ha ha, yes, that's very good point. Plus, I don't wanna explode.*grins*_

_To __707cloud__: Aww, yay! Thank you very much! I hadn't really thought my chapters were all that unique, just kinda crazy, so thusly, thank you again. Ah, I think yer' gonna like it- Static's a very lovable character (At least I hope I write her like that.)_

_To __EHSparkwoman__: Heh heh, yup! Ratchet's famous/ infamous Wrench of Doooomm! Neat! I think she'd be rather pleased with that comparison to Blurr. (Ah, yes, I watched a bit of the G1 after the movie of it, but just couldn't get into it though. I prefer TFAnimated Blurr anyway.) Haha, yup, Screamer ain't gonna like what we have planned. Though mostly it's just me and ShortCircuit annoying the armor off of him!_

_To __loveitfor13__: Thank you very much! And thank you for reviewing!_

_Hey, I noticed in the previous chapter that instead of saying that the twins were fighting 'good-naturedly,' it says '__**goo**__-naturedly.' Weird._

_And now, the chappy-ter! Woohoo!_

"Wow," Freefel stated on the ride home, sitting in the front passenger seat of Jazz's alt-mode, "Static, "You are officially the perkiest Decepticon in history."

Inevitably, said-Decepticon of perkiness responded.

"OhReallyThanksWhat'sThatDarkFloppyLongStuffOnYour HeadCalledAgainOhRightHairMayITouchItIt'sJustSoSof t There'sVeryLittlSoftStuffOnCybertronHardlyAny ButThere'sSoMuchSoftStuffHereLikeGrassAndHairAndTh oseThickLittleRunningBrownThingsThatRunOnTheGround AtThePlaceWithTrees ICaughtOneOfTheBrownThingsWithLongE arsAndTwitchingFeetThatKickedAtMeWhenICaughtIt ThisWasBeforeTheAutobotsCameByTheWaySoTheSoftHairy CreaturekickedAtMeWithFastLittleHairyFeetSoILetItG oEven ThoughItWasSoft."

... "...Oh, that's... nice..." Freefel answered in a slightly dazed voice, reeling from the incredibly fast speech, which seemed to be about Static's first meeting (and, thank goodness, releasing) of a rabbit.

"Rabbit?" ShortCircuit asked tiredly, still low on recharge. I closed my eyes and thought up an image of wild a rabbit for her- dull brown fur, thin oval ears, long feet with tiny claw-toes, sitting bunched up and round-looking, and then darting around with quick, long leaps.

Then I smirked at myself, thinking, "This is one small step for rabbit, one giant leap for rabbitkind." And then I was imagining a giant rabbit in a space-suit on the moon.

ShortCircuit chuckled a bit at the funny image. As Jazz drove up onto the driveway at our house, Blindside perked up.

Evidently, as ShortCircuit had told me and I'd seen, he could remember the vibrations or pattern of movement of the routes to different places, and recognize the movements made when driving up our driveway.

Again, that little 'Con was impressive.

"A'right, we're here," called Jazz, who had enjoyed our funny conversations, "Time t' get out now."

"Thank you, Jazz!" Freefel thanked him, and I echoed it. Blindside managed a quick "thank you" as he climbed out the back right door, and Static gave her own, hyper-speed thanks as she darted out as well.

"Yer' welcome," the Autobot chuckled, "I'll be goin' now. Oh, an' watch out fer' tha' Screamer, now."

"Ok," I replied, already dreading how much of an understatement the word 'annoyance' would be in describing Starscream's reaction, "And thanks again, Jazz!"

"Yep!" he called as he backed drove in a loop across the grass to turn around and drive forward out of our driveway, then blinking his headlights goodbye as he zoomed away down the street epically.

I chuckled a bit, then resigned myself to the fact that we had to get ShortCircuit's comlink activated again. Ratchet had told us how to do it before we left the other Autobots, and Blindside had pretty much memorized it.

At ShortCircuit's consent, I asked Blindside to re-activate my adopted-sister's comlink. The blind Decepticon agreed, and I knelt down so he could reach ShortCircuit's head.

His metal hands felt surprisingly delicate, and tickled as they cautiously worked behind my head.

Just as Blindside started to say, in a voice full of relief, "Alright," there was a painfully loud, partially cut off shout from the just-reactivated comlink.

"-AN! HUMAN!"

I nearly moaned at the Yelling One's return, but remembered the first bit of our Prank Plan of Annoyingnss.

So I repeaed back what I'd heard, but quite a bit quieter, "An! Human!"

"Wh- human?" Starscream exclaimed, sounding both faintly relieved and extremely angry, "Where have you been?!"

"Wh human!" I repeated, starting to grin, "Where have you been!"

"Ugh, stop repeating what I say and tell me NOW where you were!"

I thought he could just ask Blindside, and figured he was asking me the way that a parent asks their kid "What did you do wrong?" even though the parent already knows that they broke something or disobeyed or something.

"Ugh stop repeating what I say!" I copied, "And tell me where you were NOW!" Oops, didn't get that exactly right, but close enough.

And so it went on, every time Starscream said something, I would repeat it, that silly childish Annoying Echo game. Eventually he gave up talking/yelling at me and just asked Blindside and Static, who he was very startled to find the energy-signature of.

But still, whenever he called on the comlink, ShortCircuit and I would repeat it. Sometimes it was in Cybertronian, so ShortCircuit repeated it. Or, if it was something just as childish as the game, like "Seekjei is stupid," we'd say 'Megatron' instead.

It was quite fun!

The 'prank'/ annoying repeating game continued on to the next day of school! Of course, while we were there, ShortCircuit was the only one who could do the repeating. If **I** had, everyone in the class would be staring.

After this got too boring for us both, we switched over to the **next** prank/ annoying game. We couldn't really do much else to Screamer, seeing as we had no way to get to him, wherever he was.

So we'd have to keep annoying him until we could.

This time, we gave him a taste of his own medicine. While ShortCircuit was unable to download songs into her processor, I had quite a few stored up in my brain.

When Starscream next called, we both replied, "Nom nom nom, nom nom-nom-nom!" This was met with a slightly befuddled "...Whaat?"

And thus the annoying song 'prank' begun!

So we constanty and randomly called Starscream on the comlink and sang "The Nom Nom Song," "The Doom Song," (from 'Invader Zim,' mwahahaha) and the "Nya Nya" song. All very repetitious.

Oh, and a more recent song addition, one that I hadn't fully memorized. Here's the first lines, from a video I'd found on YouTube, "There was a **dude** walking down the **street**, there was a **dude** walking down the **streeeet**!"

The annoyingness didn't affect ShortCircuit or I as much, because we were too busy feeling gleeful and triumphant at our mini-revenge, and snickering at Starscream's reaction, to be bothered.

The "Dude walking down the street" song aggravated Freefel to no end though, so I warned her if I was about to start singing it. ShortCircuit still wasn't the best at speaking English grammar, so she stuck to singing the mono-lyric songs.

And thusly, we succeeded in annoying Screamer out of his processor, with some surprisingly enthusiastic help from Static. She wanted to have fun, and doing whatever it was that we were doing was fun.

So her hyper-sped-up versions of the repetitive songs helped drive Starscream crazy too, which made us all cheer.

Freefel said that we were probably acting drunk from our success, and since neither of us ever ingest alcohol (I ate a piece of beer-bread once though), I supposed that we were.

We continued the song-annoyance all during Tuesday too, until none of the 'Cons couldn't reach Starscream. Except for Blindside, but he was too scared to prank him anyway.

Apparently every comlink has a limited range. A short one could connect to another if it was long enough, though. Most comlink ranges were about twice as big as an energy-signature sensing range, relative to every Cybertronian.

ShortCircuit showed me what it was like. The energy-signature sensing range was sort of like 3 or 4-dimensional radar extending in all directions, and Cybertronians could sense another's energy-signature... well, **sort** of like bats or dolphins.

It was more like a person in a pool closing their eyes underwater and feeling where a stone splashes into the water from far away, except with their mind, and they can tell almost the exact location.

ShortCircuit's energy-signature sensing range was tiny for Cybertronians, less than half a mile, while Blindside's was roughly 300 miles! This was an **extremely** big range for a Cybertronian, since most had average ranges of roughly 200 miles. Static's was a bit below average but very clear.

Anyway. We all took a break from the songs, and then listened to some non-annoying ones, so they wouldn't get stuck in our heads. Or processors.

We weren't sure when we'd be able to prank Starscream again, so we just relaxed.

Until the next night, around 10:30 PM, when Starscream yelled, very clearly and loudly through ShortCircuit's comlink, "HUMAN!"

I dragged myself out of sleep, managed a grin, and answered in a funny voice, "Wish to speak of, what do you?"

_Anyone guess who I was talking like? Small and green!_

_And, ugh, Fanfiction keeps breaking Static's speeches up so weirdly!_


	68. Chapter 68

_Sorry fer' not updating earlier, again! I was taking a break over the weekend from working on any chapters, and was watching X-Men episodes! (Watched "Wolverine and the X-Men," and have watched a bunch of "X-Men evolution." Nightcrawler's my favorite character in "Wolverine and the X-Men," his accent alone makes him awesome!)_

_AAA! So many reviews! I seriously am overwhelmed by all of these! Thank you, people, you are wonderful! I feel like a kid being asked to eat an entire chocolate cake! A cholocate cake of reviews! I'd best get to answering them then, huh?_

_To __Cutie Kyuubi__: Haha, yes a good way to __**annoy**__ someone, it is. Hahaha, cool! So you all enjoy Star Wars and stuff? Neat! (My dad has a bunch of lightsabers he keeps in his room!) My sis, FireFlare, LOVES videogames, computer games, most electronic stuff. Thank you! And yeah, I'd hoped to make the pranks less boring-ish._

_To __MiniAjax__: Heh heh heh, yup! Really? Thank you very much! Yer' cat-picture is really well-drawn! And also, thank you very much for reviewing!_

_To __Blackhooves__: Hehehe. Thank you, I know the prank idea of songs isn't exactly the best, but thank you very muchly much! Yeh, writer's block comes and goes. Ok, I'll try harder to update sooner!_

_To __707cloud__: Hahaha, yup, it be Yoda! Heh heh heh, oh, take it well Screamer does not. Thank you very much! I shall, and thank you again, though my work's more __**crazy**__ than great, at least t' me._

_To __Corana Pax__: Yep, Yoda! Heh heh, we annoy him a bit more soon, and finally with something more palpable than repetitive songs. Thanks; I felt bit guilty fer' calling the 'Terror Twins' those nicknames, though, seeing as they are infamous as great pranksters. And thank you muchly much for reviewing!_

_To __DigiPokeNinjaDragon Fangirl__: Oh yes indeed, the Yoda it is! Thank you! Actually no, it's a different song, and the videos I find of it start with audience-cheering-y sounds. "Nyah-nyah __**Nya**__-nya, nananana na-na, etc" Heh heh, marvelous, being immune to something makes it fantastic to torture others with! Thank you very much for reviewing!_

_To __Link's Rose__: Hahaha! I make crazy word-mistakes like that all the time, they're so funny! Ehhh... 'trollage'? I see the word 'troll' a bunch on Fanfiction, and still don't fully get it, sorry. Ha, wow, thank you very much! (I really ain't epic though, just kinda insane!)_

_To __EHSparkwoman__: Heh heh hehhehheh, yeeesss. *grins smugly* Hahaha, yeah, he does deserve it. Hm, Yoda's voice would probably annoy me too. Or any voice I guess, if it was early or late enough._

_To __AutobotSoShi__: I'm so glad that you think so; she's a very cheerful little Decepticon._

_And, now, on to/with the chappy-ter!_

"...What?" Starscream asked in a hilarious, sort of completely lost, blank-sounding voice. I could just imagine him blinking in confusion, and I suppressed a snicker.

"Wish to speak of, what do you?" I repeated, grinning.

"You are... speaking very strangely," Starscream told me, sounding wary and cautious, probably wondering if this was another prank.

Well, it was. Hopefully it would annoy him enough so that we could go on to Phase Two of the Plan Of Pranks.

"Speaking like Yoda, I am, Seeker," I told him, a smirk-y grin audible in my voice, then adding in a demented Yoda-laugh that I copied from our Dad, "Mre-**hee** heeheehee!"

While I concentrated on not laughing for real at how bizarre and funny I sounded, there was a long pause. It was the kind of pause where you'd expect to ear cricket chirps, but it was still too cold out for crickets.

Instead, there was just the sound of a train going by, which happens a lot at our house. Freefel and I have gotten used to the noise, but it still startled and confused Blindside and Static. (ShortCircuit had been here longer so she was a bit more accustomed to it.)

Starscream sighed long-sufferingly, "Human, you don't make any sense."

"Very true, that is, Seeker," I agreed. We figured that adding in the title 'Seeker' at the end of our replies would annoy him some more. I continued, "Louder than usual, your gravelly voice is, Seeker."

"Yyyes," he stated, as though slightly impatient or bored and humoring a particularly dense toddler, "There's a reason for that."

"Reason, what kind of, Seeker?" I asked, hoping that it I was aggravating him, wearing him down. I knew he sounded louder 'cause he was closer, but I feigned ignorance nonetheless.

"Nearby, the Seeker does be," ShortCircuit told me, enjoying the effect it had on poor, poor Screamer.

"ShortCircuiiit!" he complained with a hint of a dismayed whine, "Tell me you're not speaking that way too!"

"Speaking this way, I is, Seeker," she replied, sounding thrilled at the fact that she could annoy a larger Decepticon on purpose (instead of just accidentally being in one's way on Cybertron, and getting snapped at for existing.)

"Nearby, is you, Seeker?" ShortCircuit went on, and I felt her cocking her head, a habit she'd picked up from me.

"Yes," Starscream stated, a bit irritated, "Now if you insist on still talking, do it more quietly. You know how loud the comlinks can get."

"Okeedokey, Seeker," I whispered, scowling a little bit as the train got louder. Whenever the windows were open, the train could be unbearably loud.

I growled at it under my breath, pushing a finger into each ear. "Hard to hear you, it is, Seeker," I muttered to Starscream. His 'quiet' voice was just as more hissing, since he was whispering. Or, what passes for Starscream-whispering.

There was a reply, but couldn't tell what he'd said, since A: he was whispering, B: I was covering my ears, and C: The train was still rumbling on past. Noisy.

I saw something move near the door to our room, and whipped around to look. Oh, ok, it was just Static. Even with a friendly 'Con attached to my spine, I can still get scared of Unidentified Moving Objects in the dark.

I waved, pulling my hands away from my ears as I quietly apologized to Starscream and asked him to repeat what he'd said. Freefel waved to Static, then whispered to me, "Sis. I thought I heard something."

I stiffened, scared, then relaxed and gave her a deadpan look, gesturing sarcastically at Static. For some reason, the femme shook her head and grinned, which looked creepy in the dark, only her neon-green optics illuminating her pointy metal face.

There was a comlink-noise, announcing that Starscream had turned his off. It's like a walkie-talkie. A Cybertronian can turn off their "You-can-hear-me" thingie, but they can't turn off the "I'm-hearing-you" thingie, unless they have the whole comlink disabled, like Ratchet had done earlier..

The train-noise was finally fading, but I decided to make sure the windows were fully closed anyway. Maybe I had forgotten to close the latch or something...

I pulled away the curtain shades of a window overlooking the front lawn, checked the latch-thingie. Oh yyeeah, I **had** left it open. I slid it closed, then closed the curtains.

As I turned away-Eep! Noise at/on the window! Sounded like a large, no, a REALLY large bug bonking into the glass. Eh, no wait, a bug-bonking-the-glass doesn't sound quite as sharp as that...

Freefel stared at me; she'd heard it too. I pulled away the curtains again- YIPE! Big giant thingy near the window moving AA!

ShortCircuit yelped something in Cybertronian, which sounded like "Styel-ahm-C'wer-ih-tay-scyo!", but really fast and startled.

I pushed away from the window in surprise, clumsily jumping backwards from kneeling on my bed... and slid off the edge on my back, whacking my head on the floor. "Oww," I whined, though I was glad the floor was carpet, not tile or something.

I scowled up at Static, who was making a long, high-pitched chittering/ trilling noise, her lowing optics narrowed and her head practically vibrating. ShortCircuit miffedly informed me that this was a laugh.

She was annoyed too, and was wedged painfully between my spine and the side of the wooden bed-frame. I grunted as I slithered the rest of myself off the bed and thumped onto the floor. Ow.

I mentally asked ShortCircuit what it was that she'd said earlier, and she told me that it was "Starscream" in Cybertronian.

She hadn't sensed his energy signature because she still wasn't fully recharged, and when startled, she automatically spoke in her native language, instead of translating to English. That was ok with me, I thought it sounded cool.

"Are you ok?" Freefel asked, leaning over from her own bed. "Ihck," I muttered, "Yeah, I'm ok, I'm fine." Except that my head, back, and behind were hurting, and poor ShortCircuit too. Though with her metal armor, she wasn't injured, so that was good.

"Screamer's here," I added, still a bit annoyed at myself that I'd freaked out because of his coming- which we had been expecting/really hoping for!

But why hadn't Static or Blindside told us Starscream was nearby? Oh, right. Blindside had probably been told not to, and tried his best to obey orders. Which must be why he was hiding downstairs in the dining room. ShortCircuit forgave him.

And Static was probably told not to tell us, and anyway thought it'd be funny to see my reaction. She saw me scowling and shrugged apologetically.

"It'sOnlyFairDon'tYouThinkThatHeGetsYouSeeingAsYou 'reAboutToGetHimRightSeekjei?" she asked, keeping her voice to a whisper so Starscream wouldn't hear. I sighed and nodded, forgiving her.

"Can you go get the things?" I whispered, looking at her and Freefel. They both nodded, grinning. Now they could enjoy some pranking.

I grinned too as they gathered up 'the things,' and I reached under my bed for a small device-thingy that Blindside had made. We'd managed to convince him to help at least a little bit with a prank, though he was still worried about the larger Decepticon getting angry at him.

So I'd promised to take all the blame. Which happens a lot when I rarely manage to convince my sister to do something even vaguely risky.

I opened up the window that Starscream had tapped his finger on (the big thing I'd seen near the window had been his hand), and pulled out the screen, setting it down on Freefel's bed.

Then I stuck my head out and waved, "Heeeyyy, Screamer. What up?" Oops, I'd forgotten to keep talking like Yoda. Phooey. Oh well.

"Come here," he stated blandly, like a parent or dog-owner calling over their disobedient kid/dog. (*sarcastically* I feel so loved.)

I turned around and climbed out the window backwards, dangling by my arms and flapping our wings. After a few difficult flaps, we pushed off, dropped a bit, and fluttered up. Nerves tingling with adrenaline, I directed us up and onto the upper roof, where I then sat.

Ok, in a few seconds, Static and Freefel would be ready. And then the absurdity would commence! Woohoo!

_I started typing this on Monday! (It's now Wednesday! Aaa!) Next chapter, finally a better PRANK! Oh, and here, Starscream's Cybertronian name, "Styel-ahm C'wer-ih-tay-scyo" is based off of the Latin words for 'star' and 'scream,' "Stellam" and "quiritatio," which I found on Google Translate. I'm thinkin' maybe Latin came from the Cybertronian language, since Cybertronians are way older than we humans, so maybe a language or two is based off of Cybertronian? Eh, I think it's a good idea._


	69. Chapter 69

_HALLOOO! So very muchly much indeed sorries for not updating earlier! FireFlare and I were grounded from the computer, laptop, Tv, etc for a while!_

_To __707cloud__: I hope you'll like it. Me sneaky? Really? Thank you then! I shall, and thank you muchly again!_

_To __Cutie Kyuubi__: Ooh, neat! I really like Star Wars, but I'm not a fan of all the spells and magic stuff of Lord Of The Rings. Golemn's kinda funny though. I hope you'll enjoy what happens to the Screamy one._

_To __EHSparkwoman__: You like the Cybertronian language idea? YAY! And thank you very muchly much. Ah, I thought of throwing pink paint on him, but settled on somethin' else._

_To __Solarflare101__: Wow, thank you so very much! Oh my goodness, wow. Thank you from the deepest, most crazy part o' me heart and brain. And thank you for reviewing!_

_To __WolfSpiritFlower__: You have a nice username. Eh, ok. Ok, ok, I'll update, hahaha! And thank you very much for reviewing._

_To __AutobotSoShi__: Heh heh heh, yup, here be the prank plan. Hope ya like it!_

_To __Bluewolf23__: Ah, the things are muchly strange things, heh heh. Thank you very much for reviewing!_

_To __Starsong008__: Crazy things will happen! Heh heh, oh, we've already tortured him with repetitive songs- it was fun. Oooohhh, hahaha, that'd be great! And colorful! Pffft, hahaha, that sounds hilarious! (And it's great to hear how other people are getting along with their Mini-TFs.)Wow, thank you so much! I, CrazyCatGirl, have written one Fanfic and am workin' on two; FireFlare wrote/is writing the others and worked/works together with me on some. Hahaha haha, I'm so glad our craziness is funny! Thank you for your compliments, and thank you so very muchly much for reviewing!_

_To Transformers freak22: Yay! Thank you so much! Wow, thank you again, I'm so very glad you like it! I'm honored that you like my story so much, thank you! And I think I've gotten wonderful reviews from you before- Transfanfreak101 maybe? Or Autobot-Blurr 221? Anyway, thank you so very much for reviewing!_

_And now, the chapter! Yaaayy!_

"Soooo..." I stated, glancing away from Starscream and wondering when Freefel and Static would begin the prank. It was mostly a cliché and overused prank, I admitted to myself, but better than nothing.

Suddenly I lost all my will-power of waiting and blurted out a bit loudly, "Hey d'you like throwing stuff? 'Cause I like throwing stuff, it's just so much fun. It's so much fun THROWing stuff. Yes?"

Starscream stared at me with the most confused, "What are you talking about/ what is wrong with you?" expression I'd ever seen, especially on a Cyberyronian.

"What... are you **talking** about?" he asked, utterly dumbfounded. I shrugged, flopping my head around as I indulgently rolled my eyes.

Starscream sighed, giving up on trying to understand any little squiggly speck of my nearly infinite weirdness. "At least you aren't speaking in that strange manner as before," he told me, "I came to personally order you to **stop** it! And all those other strange things you and ShortCircuit have been doing. Do you comprehend that, human?"

I nodded, "Yeah, no more of the Yoda-talkings, gotcha. Hey I feel like **throwing** something, like maybe **right NOW**!" Goodness, I felt like I was in a movie where the main character is trying to 'subtly' hint at their partner to do something!

Thankfully, Freefel and Static finally responded to my absurd 'hints,' which must have been the worst example of subtlety ever. Oh well, I ain't good at subtle-ness anywho.

Anyway, Freefel yanked away the window curtain and hurled several small objects at Starscream, who was a huge, super-close-to-the-window, almost impossible to miss, target.

Static also contributed, hyper-quickly whooshing open the window that I usually snuck out from, and enthusiastically throwing stuff too. What was da stuff, thou doth inquire? Well, a large amount of home-made Kush-ball-thingies!

Static had made them out of rubber bands, and now she and Freefel were dunking them in small containers of syrup-and-glue-mixed-with-glow-in-the-dark stuff, and gleefully tossing them at Starscream.

Basically, it was just the simple action of throwing stuff at someone, which wasn't much of a prank, but it was made better by the weirdness and annoying stickiness of the thrown objects.

So now it looked as though glowing Tribbles (from 'Star Trek,' a show I've watched very little of) were flying at Screamer and sticking to him. In a reluctant acquiesce to my begging, Blindside had added little squeaker-thingies to them, so they squeaked when they hit.

He'd **also** made a special little device, which I held concealed in my shorts' pocket. I took it out, spread our wings, and leaped off the roof, flapping around to a little bit behind Screamer. This would be tricky...

He noticed my movement and whipped around, then exclaimed in annoyance when more sticky Kush-ball objects pelted his back. When he was no longer facing us, ShortCircuit and I dove forward, sticking the device to Starscream's back with duct-tape, right between the wings.

I would've preferred using the syrup-and-glue goop, but I'd had no way of carrying any. Starscream let out an angry growl as I managed to press the button before we flapped away as fast as we could.

ShortCircuit and I alighted back on the roof as the Kush-ball supply ran out, and Starscream glowered at us.

Starscream glared at me, then leaned down a bit to glare at Freefel. After a second, she abruptly threw the last Kush-ball and it stuck to his face, causing Static to burst out laughing. Freefel and I both smirked, snickering a bit.

"Heh heh heh," I chuckled, "Nice shot, sis!"

"Stop it," the Decepticon stated, miffed as he pulled the sticky thing off. With some effort, Static muffled her laughing.

I smirked and she almost started cackling again when we heard a G1 Megatron-like voice speak from behind Starscream, "Stah-screem!"

Apparently, Starscream had heard it too, and he paused, looking around, a bit confused. "What was-?" He started to ask, but the raspy, recorded voice from the little device played again, saying "Stah-screem!"

The Decepticon twitched, alternating between looking around, fingering his comlink, and glaring at us. The device that we'd stuck to his back was designed to play a recording of my dad imitating Megatron's voice, and would play whenever Starscream spoke.

I was so very happy that Blindside had agreed to make it! ShortCircuit had told me that he resented the big 'Cons just as much as all the little defects did, but chose to stay relatively safe by doing whatever they ordered.

Ahh, so Blindside was like me in school; we do what we're told so we don't get in trouble, but that doesn't mean we're doing it willingly. Clever little 'Con!

It took less than half a minute for Starscream to catch on to the idea of little device, but he couldn't reach it without scraping his arms against his wings.

Oh so the Fanfictions were right; Seekers' wings **are** really sensitive! Cool!

"Take that thing off!" he hissed, grimacing at the repeated Megatron-ish recording, deep and angry and raspy, "Stah-screem!"

(It probably would've scared him more if it'd been in Cybertronian, but I couldn't think of any way to get my Dad to do that without making him suspicious. ShortCircuit had heard exactly what Megatwit sounded like, but I wasn't as good as my Dad in imitating voices.)

"Are you gonna hurt anyone after I get it off?" I asked Starry cautiously. He looked down at himself, spattered with sticky, glowing, home-made Kush-ball thingies. He looked back at me and shook his head with a grin.

"Okee dokey then!" I agreed, flitting around and pulling the device off carefully, making sure not to leave any sticky duct-tape on his back. Then I turned the device off and fluttered back to sit on the roof, above where Freefel was looking out the window.

She looked both thrilled and scared to have just met- and thrown sticky things- at Starscream. I could sympathize- though I'd been getting to know Starscream for days and days, I still wasn't completely used to it.

"So," the Decepticon stated, "What was all this for?" I shrugged, "Ya kept torturing us with Beiber songs. So we decided to getcha back. Did it work? Were you surprised?" I asked this like an eager little kid asking for a present, bouncing on my toes and almost losing my balance.

Starscream smiled, "Yes, it was quite a surprise. Though a rather amateur attempt, girl. Skywarp would have enjoyed giving you advice on it- he's as good a prankster as those Autobot twins."

My face lit up, "Really? Cool! And wow, I can't believe it; we throw stuff at you and yer' happy... We should do that more often!"

"No," he stated bluntly, "No more Kush-things." "No more Beiber songs," I countered. He smirked slightly, "Deal. You're very convincing." I grinned, "And yet I can't convince my parents to homeschool me."

"Poor you," he teased, "Now get these off of me." I nodded, then cocked my head, "Can Freefel and Static help?" He raised an eyebrow/optic-ridge, teasingly impatient, "They _should_."

Static hopped down almost immediately from the lower roof and skittered over in short, halting steps, cocking her head like a cautious yet inquisitive bird as she approached Starscream.

"You too, human," Starscream told Freefel, pointing to her. She looked nervous, so I set the example and fluttered over to perch- rather haphazardly- on the Decepticon's arm, and invited my sister, "C'mon. Climb like a monkey."

She snorted at how weird the sentence was, then carefully climbed out the window onto the lower roof, then slowly lowered herself down. Static was by now climbing up Starscream's leg and onto his front, pulling off a sticky Kush-ball.

"OhWaitOopsI ForgotToBringA ContainerForThe RubberGooeys," she told me, seeming to be trying to speak slower. She glanced at Freefel as if just disappointedly realizing that she couldn't ask my sis to retrieve the buckets.

"Him _is_ safe..." I heard ShortCircuit thinking aloud to herself, "Is maybe ok to show..." Then she seemed to come to a decision, "Seekjei, please be telling Static now, that it be ok for her to be going fast."

'Uh, ok,' I thought to her, then called, "Static! ShortCircuit says it's ok for you to go fast like you usually are!"

She hesitated for a moment, then shrugged it off and brightened, jumping off Starscream and hopping around a little on the grass, "OhYippeeYayGoodGoodGoodI'llGoGetTheHardBendyConta inersForTheGooeysFastVeryFast!"

And, she did just that. Within two seconds she had darted toward the lower roof, leaped up, and slipped through the window.

"Well," Starscream stated, quite surprised, "That was quick." "Yup," I agreed as I pulled off another gooey Kush-ball. By the time I'd said 'yup,' Static was already zipping down from the roof and standing next to Starscream's foot.

"ThankYouSirThankYouVeryMuch," Static thanked him, slightly faster than usual. ShortCircuit told me that fear and respect for bigger 'Cons was deeply ingrained into most of the littler defects.

Being around bigger 'Cons was frightening- they could get mad and hurt the defect, or order them into a battle if they thought the defect had any useful abilities. Static's speed was exceptional, which was why she tried to hide it from bigger 'Cons.

I felt bad for them, then imagined hurling more sticky Kush-ball things at any Decepticons who were mean to the littler ones. ShortCircuit snickered, a mischievous sound she rarely made, and I was glad to hear it from her.

"Human!" Starry called, and I looked up, only to see that he was addressing Freefel. She looked up, startled. "I've already asked your sibling this; why were you all throwing these... well, whatever these objects are."

"...It's fun," Freefel replied, still looking nervous. Starscream blinked, "Tossing small sticky spheres of rubber string at a dangerous being such as myself is 'fun'?"

"Well, um, yeah," Freefel told him, trying not to be rude somehow. "Oh yes!" I told Starry, "I would've thrown the Kush-ball thingies too, but I have lousy aim."

"OhYesThat'sTrue," Static giggled, "FrenzySaysYouLostASnowballFightWithATreeWhat'sSno wLikeExactlyIsItSoftLikeGrassOrYourSmallJumpyFerre tThatRunsAndTwitches?"

"Aahhmm, yes?" I answered, "Uh, yes I lost a snowball fight with a tree, and yes snow is soft, but not exactly like a ferret." Incredibly, Static and Zorra (our fuzzy) had become friends and thoroughly enjoyed playing together at insane speeds.

"Wait," I added, "How do you know Frenzy?" I felt ShortCircuit smirking before Static glanced away and answered shortly, "WeTalkOnTheComlink."

"Ok," I answered, then remembered something Starry had said. "Hey, Starry?" I asked, "Why'd you say our prank was amateurish?"

"It is," he informed me, "That's why."

"Hmmm..." I mused to myself, "I think we could come up with all **kinds** of crazy pranks to do to you..." I was already devising a plan.

ShortCircuit, picking up on my thoughts, declared, "NO! Nono no nono!" She poked her head out of the back of my shirt-collar and shook her head at Starscream.

But it was already too late. The Decepticon had already arisen to the challenge, and agreed. "Bring it on."

ShortCircuit, having no available palm to face-palm, whacked her face on the back of my head, thinking at me in a mock-pitying voice, "Him is never will recover." She knew what kinds of crazy things happened in my brain, and half-jokingly feared the results.

'No,' I agreed with a mental grin, 'He probably won't. But I'll try to do something nice for him afterwards to apologize for possibly scarring him for life.'

ShortCircuit gave an overdramatic, long-suffering sigh, and I chuckled.

After we all finished cleaning the Kush-ball thingies off of Starscream, we headed back inside. It'd been a long night, and we needed our rest for the Planning Of Pranks.

Starscream left, waiting for the sounds of another train to cover over the sound of his engines. Very soon, he may find that our pranking was a orce to be reckoned with!

...Or we'd all be disappointed by my non-brilliant-pranking-abilities. I really hoped that it was the first one.

_Yahoo, longer chapter! Sorry for the wait!_


	70. Chapter 70

_Hahaha, hellooo! I just re-read the previous chapter I wrote, and I'm proud of myself for typing it. Now I'm sitting here at the laptop with a ferret sleeping sporadically on my lap (sporadic because every few minutes, she wakes up, scrambles away, and scratches herself all over), and listening to "This Is How You Remind Me" by 'Nickelback,'._

_Now! On to those incredible reviews that you incredible reviewers give me!_

_To __Transformers freak22__: Yay, and thank you very much! Heh heh, yeah, I came up with some idea involving a small device days before I finished typing that chapter, and then I forgot what the idea was; Hopefully, the replaying-thingy was the idea. Hhahaha, yeah, that's how I hear Megatron saying Screamer's name in TFPrime. ... Ah, ok, thank you. It's just that the picture and username looked familiar. Yay! Thank you!_

_To __707cloud__: Oh yay! I'm so very glad ya' liked it! Well, my sis and I joke about being so insane and scary sometimes that we would scar people for life, but I doubt we a__**ctually**__ could... *gasps in appreciation* __**AWWWW, thank you so much!**__ And you are... encouraging, devious, brilliant, creative, and hilarious! At least from what I read in yer' amazing reviews. ... (Hm, ok, I just tried to find your stories on your profile so I could read and review, but I can't seem to get to them. I will try again later.)_

_To __AutobotSoShi__: Wow, really? It was just throwing stuff, mostly. But thank you very very muchly indeed! I'm so very glad you found it to be hilarious! I'd hoped to make the chapter as funny as I could._

_To __Starsong008__: *gasp, then howls mournfully* I'm so sorry! Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry for you and for your cat... (Visibly, I winced when I read that first sentence, and in my mind I howled in shock and sadness/_ _dismay.) Was it fatal? I get sad when some our fish die; I can't imagine what it's like... I'm sorry. Thank you very much for your compliments, I really appreciate them. I'm glad it cheered you up, and your mini Transformers. Heh heh, wow, I can't get my brain to envision Grimlock singing __**anything**__! Again, thank you, and I am very sorry for your cat, and for you. *sends a hug*_

_To __Blackhooves__: Yay! Blacky! Oh, thank you so much! Oooh, yes yes yes! (I only came up with a handful of weird/ mediocre pranks, I could use all the help I can get!) __**Coke-And-Mentos**__: Heh heh, classic, and good advice, thanks! __**Feathers**__: Hahaha, I pictured that and started laughing, hilarious! __**Syrup**__: Ooh, good and messy one! (Cleveerrrr with the 'silly goose'!) __**"Hootennanny!"**__: Oh my goodness, I can't stop laughing/ chuckling/ giggling about this one! Is it sort of like that thing people in 'Robin Hood' yell? __**Paintballs and/or eggs**__: Haha, neat, but sadly, I have no pink paintballs, and our parents would wonder where all the eggs had gone! (Plus, I'd probably just lick off all the chocolate.) __**Duct-Tape**__: Oh, __**YES**__, I __**LOVE**__ Duct-tape! Not sure how we'd bonk him unconscious though...__**Cling Wrap**__: *gasps* YES! YES, I will DO that! Thank you so much! __**Post-Its**__: Hahaha, good idea! But I might try to write something on the notes, and I dunno what I'd write... No, wait, an idea is coming... Ah ha! Oh, no, wait, how are we gonna knock him unconscious to do it..? Anyway, BRILLIANT IDEAS! Hahaha, I love 'em! How do you come up with all of these so quickly? ...Hmm, oh, I'm going to use that 'Hootennanny" idea now too! Thank you so very much for these splendiferously fantastic ideas/ suggestions!_

_To __Galem__: Hahaha, yes, Jazz is indeed 'the man!' He's a VERY fun Autobot, very friendly and funny. And life-saving-y too, which I greatly appreciate. Jazz sends his thanks for the praise and I thank you for reviewing! And to your second review,ah, well, the silliness is about to return. Bewaaarrre! Oh, and __**do**__ people __**actually**__ roll on the floor laughing?I'd love to see that._

_Ok, I've typed replies, now I must take a break.. Next bit of the chapter will have been typed hours and hours after all of this bit._

_...Ok, here I am, back after a day o' school. On to the Chap-TEERRRR! Oh, and there is much insanity and madness here. Thou hath been warn-eth-ed._

Though we all (mostly Static and I) couldn't wait to rain down a multitude of pranks upon Starscream, we couldn't do it until the night after the next night! We needed time to think of and plan the pranks.

(The 'Plan Of Pranks'! I woulda' called it the 'Plan Of Obnoxious Pranks,' but the acronym for it made Freefel and I snort/snicker in laughter. Freefel has a hilarious laugh which I call her 'snicker-weasel-chuckle.')

Anyway, apparently Starry was as eager to thwart our pranks as we were to spring them. He called on the comlink the night after the Kush-ball Incident, his customary summons of "HUMAN!"

I winced and groaned, "Too tired, Starryyyy." I paused and then added jokingly, "And I think hanging out with you has messed up my brain even more! I had a dream about giant **blade-lizards** from another **planet** eating foreign **plants**, for goodness sake."

"...What?" He asked, befuddled. I shrugged, "I have no idea, Starry." (I had a dream that some Hork-Bajir, from the 'Animorphs' series, were eating hibiscus flowers.)

ShortCircuit tiredly explained this to him. After a few seconds, in which he was probably Googling the terms, Starscream replied, "Ah," in a tone which said that he still had no idea what we were talking about. Oh well.

But by the next night, everything was ready! We'd talked with Starry and decided on a good time and place for the pranks to happen; it'd been weird and intensely funny to be coordinating plans with Starscream as to where we should prank him. Very weird indeed.

I'd at first hoped to have the prank-party in our back yard, by the pine trees where Barricade had hidden that one time, but Starscream wouldn't fit there.

So we'd picked the biggest clearing we could find in some woods near our neighborhood, close enough to train tracks so that Starscream's engines wouldn't be overheard.

It was a bit of a walk, but at least it was early February, so it was way too cold for ticks and things. Blindside stayed at the house because he was still worried that he might get punished, poor guy. ShortCircuit and I gave him a wing-hug.

So. Static and I trudged along to the meeting-place, with me carrying Freefel by her hands, and Static carrying her by her feet.

Confused? Oh it gets better.

"What... happened...?" Starscream inquired warily. There was a big, dark red smear across my sister's throat, and the liquid trickled down her neck, and her eyes were closed. I flopped her limp form onto the ground, and she didn't make a sound.

"She didn't cooperate," I stated seriously, struggling so hard to not start grinning and then laughing. Static nodded solemnly beside me, head downwards.

Starscream tilted his head slowly, optics narrowing. Then he scoffed. "Interesting trick, human," he snickered, "But I saw her eyelids moving."

"AW!" I complained, "Freefelll!" "Whaaat?" she demanded, sitting up crossly and wiping the paint-and-ketchup off of her neck, "I held my breath and had cardboard over my heart so he couldn't see it beating and _everything_! How was I supposed to know he'd see my _eyes_ moving?!"

"Ok, ok," I apologized, hands up in surrender, "Sorry." Freefel huffed, brushing dirt off of her clothes, "And you dropped me really hard, too! That hurt!"

"Ai-yai-yai," I complained, rolling my eyes, "Ok, fine. How hard did I drop you? Show me." And I laid on my back, stretching out my arms for Freefel to grab.

She smirked evilly, and said in a diabolically pleased voice, "O-kaayy..." I leaped up, "Ah! Ok, maybe not! No showing me! ...You'd _keeell_ me."

She smirked superiorly, "Would I?" I shrugged, "Eh, dunno. Now! Back to the pranks!"

"Yes," Starscream told me, "If you would remove _these_, first, though." He pointed to where his feet and pointy finger-joints were partially entangled with shreds of Plastic-Wrap.

(_WOOHOO! __Blackhooves__, thank you very much!_)

Static had poked maybe hundreds of little holes in the clear shiny stuff so individual blades of grass would fit through it, to hide it and keep it from blowing away.

We'd also set up lots of duct-tape upside-down on the ground too, but it seemed that Starscream had already pulled most of it off and stuck it to a nearby tree.

He'd also been cautious enough to disable our pressure-plates, which were tied to little twigs and sticks by strings, and would've flung them at him when he landed. (No harm would've been done, it'd just be startling.) But he'd apparently poked at the untrustworthy ground-with-pressure-plates with a branch, tripping them without them getting him. Phooey.

"Where is the blind one?" Starscream inquired, glancing around suspiciously.

"There was an explosion that turned him into a gerbil," I stated.

"A gerbil?" Starscream asked, obviously not believing me but unsure as to why I'd pick a gerbil, of all things.

"Yes, a gerbil," I told him, "Do you not know what a gerbil is?"

"I have been on this bizarre planet for years," Starscream informed me scornfully, "And have constant internet access, so yes, I know what a gerbil is. Do you?"

"Yes," I replied.

"Then what is it?"

"I dunno."

"You just said it! How could you not know?"

"I know because I do."

"You don't make any sense."

"What doesn't make sense?"

"YOU!"

"What about me?"

Starscream's shoulders sagged abruptly and he shook his head slightly, one optic squinting in disbelief at the utter madness that is my idea of logic.

"YAAYYY!' I cheered, "I did it!"

"Did... what?" the Decepticon asked, as if giving up on the idea that I could ever possibly make any sense.

"I pulled you into a random and bizarre conversation with absolutely no point to it!" I cheered, boing-ing up and down in glee and clapping my hands.

He sighed, "Yes. Yes, you did. Now get this... this stuff... off of me." We complied. Amazingly, we're totally fine with cleaning up after our pranks.

"I really do hate to ask and spoil your fun," Starscream mentioned mock-regretfully, "But what do those strings do?" Starry pointed to some strings that were set up on some trees, all leading to three different locations within a couple feet of one another.

I pouted for a second that he had seen them, but then ShortCircuit told me something.

I mentally grinned and thanked her, then whispered to Starscream, "Ok, here, we'll show you. But try to keep quiet, I don't want you to miss it..."

He cocked an eyebrow/ optic-ridge.

Then Freefel, Static, and I all pulled the strings at once.

"_**HOOTENNANNY!**_" blared out a dozen or more record-replay devices hidden among the trees. "GAAA!" Starscream exclaimed in surprise, jumping about 4 feet in the air and whipping his head around.

(_Thank you again, __Blackhooves__!_)

Everyone else burst out laughing. We'd had lots of fun recording ourselves yelling that, and now our crazy work had paid off hysterically.

(_I showed this part of the chapter just now to __FireFlare__, and she started laughing hysterically and crouched on the floor and her face turned pink! I'm so pleased... And once again, I must thank __Blackhooves__ for that; You are AWESOME!_)

Starscream quickly recovered, staring at us in a mixture of annoyance, surprise, and a bit of amusement. "Well," he stated, "That, I shall admit, was well done."

Static, ShortCircuit, Freefel, and I all cheered, whooping with joy and triumph, and jumping around. Unfortunately, my jumping around landed me on a forgotten pressure plate, causing sticks and twigs tied to it by string to fly out of the bushes at me.

"Ack! Ow!" I yelped in surprise, flinging my arms up to protect myself. Starscream grinned, "Surely you did not suppose that you were the _only_ one ready to trick someone...?"

Freefel looked dismayed, "So you didn't think the 'Hoo-' *giggles* the 'Hootennanny' *more giggling* was good?"

Starscream rolled his optics as he picked me up in the tangled strings, "It was."

"HOOTENNANNY!" blared out a few of the devices, and I looked- from my uncomfortable position stuck dangling in strings like a puppet- at Static, to see her grinning impishly and holding one of the sets of device-strings.

I applauded, which didn't work out so well because the strings holding me up were tight from my weight on them and hurt a bit.

"Umm..." Freefel asked Starscream hesitantly, "Can you please let Seekjei down now, please?" Starscream shrugged and let go of the strings I was stuck in, letting me fall a foot or two to the ground.

"Ow," I croaked, standing back up, "Freefel, I now feel your pain..." She chuckled, then mentioned, "I'm glad it was Static carrying the laptop and not you."

"Hm?" Starscream asked, turning his head a bit to see. Static was holding our laptop on her back with some hook-thingies. She'd told us that they were for carrying stuff while on the move, so we'd asked her to bring the laptop.

"Why did you bring your primitive flat computer device?" Starscream asked, tilting his head curiously, then smirked, "Another prank?"

I shrugged, "Eh, not really. But if it wierds you out, then sure." Freefel asked Static for the 'primitive device,' hmph, and opened it, thanking her.

"Oh wait!" I interrupted as Freefel opened the laptop, "Did you bring the sock puppet?"

Freefel rolled her eyes, and spoke patiently/ slightly annoyedly as if to a repetitively-asking and annoying little kid, "Yes, Seekjei, I brought the sock puppet..."

"Oh goodie," I responded, highly pleased. It wouldn't work without the sock puppet.

She pulled out an old white sock with two red eyes drawn on it, a big mouth with pointy teeth, and the word "Megatron."

Then she played a scene on YouTube, of an "Invader Zim" episode called "Mopiness Of Doom" (Which never aired, but there's hilarious script-readings and a brilliant an-made video of).

The speaking of Dib's scientist- father played from the laptop, accompanied by a quickly-put-together animation of G1 Starscream.

"**I** am a **SCIENTIST**! I have always **wanted** to be a **SCIENTIST**, and I am **goood** at being a **SCIENTIST**!"

In the animation we'd done, G1 Starscream points to himself, holds up some test-tubes and other equally science-y things. ("**I** am a **SCIENTIST**!")

G1 Starscream is shown as a cute little sparkling holding some more science-y stuff, then running after some poor random other Cybertronian kid yelling that he needed to do some tests on them. ("I have always **wanted** to be a **SCIENTIST**!")

G1 Starscream wearing a big white lab coat and pulling off a pair of blood-stained gloves, then smiling, giving a thumbs-up, and holding up a piece of paper that says "Success Rate: A lot." ("And I am **goood** at being a **SCIENTIST**!")

Then Freefel stops the audio, and G1 Starscream is seen fiddling with some big device-ish thingie. I move the Megatron sock puppet around near the screen, saying "Arrg, rrh." G1 Starscream presses a button on his device.

A portal appears/s animated, and G1 Starscream sticks his arm through at the screen, firing off a blast from his null-rays, or whatever they're called.

"Ungh!" I make the Megatron sock puppet say, and it falls over. Freefel fast-forwards the video and then it plays. "HAHA! **Success**! And they said it couldn't be **done**!" The G1 Starscream jumps up and down, cheering.

"The end!" I announced, highly pleased with the result.

"That... was unexpected," Starscream stated, seeming unsure as to how he should react to our animation of his G1 self proclaiming his love of science and defeating a Megatron sock puppet through the laptop screen.

"I thought it was funny," I told him satisfiedly, smiling as I handed the Megatron sock puppet to ShortCircuit, who bit it and shook it around like a dog. 'You is right!' she thought to me in surprise, 'Biting of things that is like bad-people _does_ be much fun!'

"Aww, the poor sock puppeeettttt..." Freefel whined, looking grieved. ShortCircuit stuck her head out the back of my shirt collar with a deadpan look, then tossed the sock puppet to Freefel, who caught it in one hand, looking slightly confused.

"...Thanks?" Freefel more asked than stated. "Her is welcome," ShortCircuit told me, miffed at giving up her Megatron-biting-sock. "ShortCircuit says yer' welcome," I told Freefel, mentally promising ShortCircuit that I would get it back later.

"Alright," Starscream told us, "This has been quite interesting, but I would like to know if you have any more odd little tricks planned, so that we can get on with this." Translation: I'm tired, let's get this over with.

"Why?" I asked quickly, excitedly, "Are our pranks working? Did they freak you out?"

"...Some of your endeavors were startling." Translation: Ya scared me.

"OhYesWeDoHaveOneMoreTrickOrPrank," Static told him excitedly, "ShallWeDoItNow?SeekjeiIsHopingThatItWillScareAndD isturbYouGreatly,ThoughSheWorriesThatHerAbilityToS carSomeoneForLifeIsLackingIThinkIt'sVeryCreativeAn dGotScaredAtFirst,ButThenSheAndFreefelSaidThatSome OfThoseThingsAren'tPhysicallyPossible!"

"... '_things_'?" Starscream asked, looking slightly concerned/ disturbed.

"Just a list," Freefel told him, "Some of the things are funny, and others are things we might do if injuring people wasn't against the law."

Starscream smirked, "Very well. Though I doubt you can come up with anything that I have not already seen or heard of." Static was shaking her head at him like a war veteran, "OohhNo,Sta- Uh,Sir- ThereAreManyCrazyThingsOfWhichTheHumanGirlsSpeakOf ThatCertainlyNoOtherBeingCouldEverImagineEvenOnCyb ertron."

So we read our list, with some illumination from Static's bright optics.

Here's some of the not-so-bad things upon our mixed Crazy-things-and-scary-things List.

Going to the dentist while holding one of those plastic grabby/pincer-things in your throat, with the top/pincer thing in your mouth. Removing the larger bones of the legs and arms and using them as table-legs for the rest of the person. Going to a food-store and turning on the loudspeaker and saying "What do you _mean_ the entire supply of [some popular food item] was contaminated?!" Tying a person down in a tiny room and placing a business of very angry ferrets on their face. Tying someone's feet up by their own hair and gagging them with a no-longer-attached hand. Informing the entire population of mall-dwellers that a frog has assassinated [some random famous person, like the Pope]."

There were some crazier and scarier things, too.

First few things, Starscream looked slightly confused or interested.

Next couple of things, he twitched a little bit, and inched away slightly.

And when we got to the **most** scary things... We don't know _what_ he did but he _did_ it.

"That's enough," he told us when we had finished reading the list, "No more. I've had quite enough of your antics to last me many solar-cycles."

"That's good, 'cause we didn't have any more," I told him. Starscream nodded, possibly in relief. As he prepared to transform and leave, he told us, "You humans may want to think about seeing a psychologist of some sort, by the way."

"I **told** you we were crazy, didn't I?" I asked, grinning. He sighed long-sufferingly and nodded, "That you are, Seekjei, that you are."

And away he flew.

_Oh, and here's a good prank I've been thinking of! Transformers Prime, season 2, episode 20, "Legacy," go to 18 minutes and 15 seconds, and try to print a picture of Megatron's face. Then, tape it someplace in someone's bathroom, like maybe on the toilet seat._


	71. Chapter 71

_Helloooo! And AAAAAA, please save me from my Father, he is MAD! **MAD** I SAY! He's speaking in a Megatron voice and talking like a rapper-person! "Home-eez," and "in the house." *shudders* Oohhh, so much wrongness...Now! On to the marvelous reviews from marvelous reviewers! (Oh, FireFlare/Freefel, our Dad, and I, have started watching "Tron Uprising." (Started on Thursday) ... It ain't too bad, ain't too bad at all...)_

_To __Blackhooves__: YAAAYY! I'm so glad you liked the 'Hootenanny' and cling-wrap, and I thank you again for telling me that fantastic idea! Heh heh heh, oooh good idea for Starry to prank us! (I'm not sure when though.) Aw, that there's just insulting. *pouts* But it's ok! I don't know that song, I rarely EVER wear clothes that match, and I have never heard of "the scary maze game." Kindly elaborate so I may imagine the insanity/ hilarity of it, please?_

_To __Starsong008__: You are very welcome for the hugs. __**Ohh**__, oh my word, I'm so sorry! I hope it was at least over quickly? *looks very sad and sympathetic* Thank you very much for the compliment, I was hoping that my chapter would be funny. OOohh, yes? Hmm, good idea! (But I'd have to whack him unconscious first- And he is __**very**__ muchly big, so that might be difficult to do. *grins and shrugs*) Oh, you have Predaking? Cool! So do we! *gasps dramatically* Wow, clever him- They'll take over the world! I'll send some of our mini-TFs to save you!_

_To __Transformers freak22__: Hahaha, yaaay! I'm so very muchly much glad indeed that you liked the chapter/ thought it was funny! (I would be updating sooner, but school has decided that it's mission in life is to chain me with homework!)_

_To __AutobotSoShi__: HAhaha, yeesssss, I'm so very pleased you liked that bit. __FireFlare__ really did sometimes make a snicker-weasel-chuckle, but only very rarely now- I've begged her to do it again several times. Oooohhhh, haha, good idea! The fuzzies would be __**thrilled**__ to have a giant metal person to explore, but I worry that e' might hurt them by accident._

_Ok, there, now I'm done typing replies to the fantastic reviewers, I can start typing this chapteeeerrrrr! ...Eh. Sorry, I be feeling kinda apathetic about typing right now. I just worked on a bunch of eeeeeeviill math homework, and this chapter doesn't really even have a point or reason to it, and hardly any action. So thusly, I apologize in advance. I'll be trying to add in random little bits to make it slightly better and longer._

_On to the chapter!_

The next day was Saturday, and we were all grateful for the chance to sleep in. Our Decepticon friends don't seem to understand the point of weekdays and weekends though.

Days are simply days, are they not? There's no big announcement somewhere in nature or in space that says "The week has ended!" or "Another week is starting!" The beginning of a week or month is just the same as the middle of a week or month, except on calendars.

For instance, when Static poked me awake around 6:00 in the morning, I mumbled, "No, no school, it's Saturday."

"WhatIsSaturday?IsItAnObject?WhatDoesASaturdayLook LikeAndWhatDoesItHaveToDoWithSchoolBeingNo?" Static asked, poking her face close to mine. I thought about gently pushing her away with one of our wings, but ShortCircuit and I were too tired for that anyway.

So I tried to explain, "Today. Today it's Saturday."

"Today**What**IsSaturday?" "The day. Today the day is called Saturday."

"No,ItIsCalledDay." "There's seven days. This is the sixth, and it's called Saturday." "ThereAreFarMoreThanJustSevenDaysAnd WhyIsADay**Called**SomethingAnyway? ThereAre**Trillions**OfDaysThatHaveOccured, AndTrillionsOfspansOfTime EqualToTheTimeInOne'Day'OnEarth, EvenInSpaceWhereThereIsNoPatternOfSunriseAndSunset SoWhyDoYouSayThatThereAreOnlySevenDays?"

"... Aaaahhhhgggickh."

So I woke up Freefel to help me, but she moaned/ growled at me and swatted at my hand, telling me to leave her alone. So I had to keep trying to explain to Static. And thusly I learned to pity all parents of small children who never ever stop asking stuff.

I finally asked the femme why she didn't look it up on the internet. She shook her head and told me that she didn't have internet connection-abilities in her processor.

Well, actually she did, she explained, but her's was sort of like a narrow band-width connection thingy or something. And her hyper-speed thoughts were sort of like having up too many Internet window-things on a computer at once, and it would burn out really fast.

It was part of her Defect-ness, she explained, along with an inability to pay attention very long, and an inability to handle boredom or staying still.

"Ohhhh," I responded, nodding, "So it's like ADHD." ShortCircuit, still on my spine and napping on and off, read my mind, saw the connections, and agreed.

"What'sADHD? IsItAnotherDayOfWhatYouHumansCallA'Week'? IStillDon'tThinkThatMakesAnySense, OrAtLeastVeryLittle," Static replied.

"Um, no," I told her, "It isn't a day of the week; it's a disorder."

"ADHD stands for Attention Deficit, Hyperactivity Disorder," I then recited, "It means being unable to focus and being fidgety. Has to do with a lack of Dopamine receptors or something, and some other stuff."

"OhWellThenYesISupposeIt**Could**BeSomethingLikeThat," Static replied, "It'sOneOfTheMoreCommon PrrocessorDefectss ThatSomeSmallerDecepticonsHaveButI'veBeenToldThatI HaveItReallyBadly."

I shrugged, "You think fast. Hard to focus on stuff if yer' mind is already a minute or so ahead." Static's optics gleamed and she nodded so fast that her head was a blur, "YesYesYesThat'sTrue!"

I chuckled, "Ok, well, I'm gonna go feed the fish, and then probably fall asleep again. See ya later."

So I went to do that. And the next day, I wondered if one of the orange-and-black fish had seemed unusually pudgy. Why? Because **then there were baby fish**!

I **hate** it when this happens, because the little varmints are extremely difficult to find and catch (to put in a separate fish-tank for safety), and if they are not caught, they could get eaten by adult fish.

So thusly I had to catch them. And worry continuously. I refer to fish as '_Fisss_' when I am angry at them. There was much "_Fisss!_"ing that day.

"Rrrghh," I growled, berating the aquatic creatures, "Stop engaging in reproductive activities, you little crazy _Fisss_! Fish! Fishes! Stop it!"

I continued my scolding and complaining, and encouragement to the baby-fishes to cooperate, almost the entire time. Static had come to watch me catch them with a little net. She wasn't being distracting, and our parents were away, so I made no objection.

Then, suddenly, as I was catching (hopefully) the last baby fish, Static let out a shrill squeak, and jabbed one of her hands into the water!

I gasped and pulled away, then remembered the baby fish in the net, and quickly put it in the new mini-tank. I then turned back toward Static and exclaimed in horror, "What are you doing?!"

A large gray stripe-y fish (different species from the orange-and-black) was impaled on one of Static's pointed, needle-like claw-fingers, already instantly dead. Little drops of fish blood beaded up and dripped down.

Static shook her hand slightly, and a tiny shape fell out of the stripey fish's open mouth. A baby fish! It darted away, and Static tilted her hand so that the dead stripey fish-corpse slid off of her finger and plopped into the water.

Other fish swam up and started darting at the carcass, picking off little bits of it. I stared at Static in astonishment.

"ThatGrayFishWithStripesWasNear TheLittleOrangeSparkling-IMeanBaby-Fish," the femme explained earnestly, "AndThenTheGrayFishWithStripes**Ate**The PoorLittleOrangeBabyFishSoI**Stabbed**TheGrayFishWithStripes. NowTheBabyOrangeFishisOut And**Not**Eaten AndTheOtherFishAreEatingTheDeadGrayFish WithStripes. That'sCannabalismIWonderIfItTastesGood."

I abruptly became aware that I was staring at Static and my head was flopped to one side in amazement, and stated intelligibly, "Uhh..."

My eyes kept flicking back towards the fish tank. "Um, one moment while I formulate an appropriate response, please," I requested Static.

She nodded agreeably, and we both crouched down to observe the dead stripey fish being messily devoured by the other fish, who tore off impressive little chunks of flesh. I'd be furious at them if the fish had been alive and innocent. But it was neither, so I said nothing.

After about a minute, I nodded in satisfaction, turned to Static, and told her, "That was so cool how you saved the baby fish! Thank you so much! Is there anything I can do for you to thank you?"

Static looked remarkably pleased at my thanks, but assured me that she just wanted to continue watching the many fish for now.

So, I agreed and thanked her again for doing this marvelous thing, giving her permission to watch and police the many fish anytime she wanted. (Unless of course our parents were nearby and might see her.)

And life was good.

_Well. FireFlare, our Dad, and I have finished watching all of the "Tron: Uprising" episodes. It is now Monday. NNNNOOOOOOOOO! I was hoping that maybe they just hadn't made any more episodes yet, but NooOOOO, they're apparently/possibly CANCELLING IT! And several people on YouTube have said the same thing. CURSE YOU 'DISNEY XD', CURSE YYYOOOOOUUUUU!_

"_Yeah, I was really sad when [can't tell you who. Spoilers.] died," said my Dad, "But at least Tron got fixed..." I smirked. "...DON'T you say anything!" FireFlare ordered, pointing at me imperiously. I then snorted and burst out snickering. "You are a horrible person," stated FireFlare. And then she slowly closed the notebook she had in her hands, slowly stalked forward, and BONK! Whacked me on de head with it. And now she is reading this. And says with a faint laugh, "How dare you," and bonks me on the head again. TRON LIVES!_


	72. Chapter 72

_Wednesday June 12, 2013. Hiii! I'm SO sorry for not updating in such a long time! **GAH! OVER TWO WEEKS!** Blame school and finals and reviews for finals; they are eeevillll things! As soon as I finish one big packet of review questions, there's another to do! And then when I have a break, I'm too tired to type chapters! Aaaaagh. Anyway, then, on to the reviews from you fantastically wonderful, patient readers._

_To __Blackhooves__: Ihck, yeah, Disney plays a bunch of dumb shows for a long time but gets rid of any good ones that rise from the ashes of the once great channel. Hm, it sounds interesting. How can people get scared by a maze? I think I shall indeed look it up; thank you. Oh yay, thank you so very muchly for the compliment! Ahhhhhh, finally, someone who understands my fish predicament! *weeps dramatically* Thank you so much for your understanding!_

_To __Link's Rose__: Ha ha ha ha! __Yes, evilly fishy he/it was. (The stripey fish actually __**did**__ once eat a baby fish. I wanted to stab him/it with a fork so he/it'd die and the baby fish could swim out. Later, de stripey one, 'Aige,' died of old age.) Ah, yay! Thou art alive! *claps* Halloo!_

_To __Scion Nexus Prime__: I'm so glad you like that part! It was a lot of fun to come up with the crazy ideas and write it. Hahaha, cool! (Something similar happened to the Decepticons in my "A Con Called Caterwaul" Fanfiction.) No, drugs are bad. _

_And to __Scion Nexus Prime__'s second review: Haha, I'm so glad you think so! I'm not sure how hotwiring a vacuum is possible- you'd have to ask the mini-TFs about that one. (Oh, and Freefel was supposed to be yelling something along the lines of "Love you, mom, gotta go catch the vacuum, bye!" into the phone, but FanFiction deleted the sentence.) Ha ha. I assure you, a laser can indeed sound depressed. How? Hmmm... say "PYEW PYEW!" really excitedly, then say it in a weakly disappointed/ sad voice, "Pyeew," and it'll sound depressed. Thank you very muchly much for reviewing! _

_To __Starsong008__: Yay, thank you so very muchly! Hmm, interesting idea/assignment. (Years ago, we had to describe how to make a peanut butter sandwich, with tons of detail.) Heh, the stripey fish be dead in real life now anyway. Hahaha, wow, cool! He must be a pretty effective leader! Haha, oohhh, poor Ramjet. Maybe you can help him fix his leg? Okeedokey, I'll try to update again soon. Sooner. Have a nice day!_

_To __Transformers freak22__: Yippee! Thank you for the compliment and liking me chappy-ter! *gasps in appreciation* You do? You agree? Thank yoouuu! Another person sympathetic to my fishy difficulties! Ohh, you and __Blackhooves__ have made my day! What type of fish do you have? We have- WAY TOO MANY- Sunburst Wag Platys._

_To __AutobotSoShi__: Haha, yup! Static's usually very perky indeed; she helps cheer the others up if they're being unhappy or too serious. Oh yeah, yer' right! Very good comparison._

_And now, finally, de chappy-ter!_

The day afterward was Monday, my least favorite day of the week. I know the same goes for most people who go to school and/or work.

Static still doesn't fully understand why we absurd and bizarre humans divide time into weeks, or why some weekdays are named after pagan 'gods,' (Thor's day, Thursday, etc.).

But, other random things aside, I hate going to school, and on Monday I had to go to school. So I was thusly displeased.

But, ShortCircuit decided to come along, so it was a bit more bearable. She wasn't actually required to, though. Starscream hadn't **really** told us that she was allowed to come off my spine yet, but he seemed to have relaxed the rule.

In any case, ShortCircuit wanted to come, and I had no objections. The day was more interesting at least, having someone to talk to in my head (**literally**, in my head, because of the wires in my brain).

And the faint headaches that had accompanied the wires had faded, so that was good. Plus, knowing that I was walking around with an alien friend who was a pair of wings on my back? And nobody else knowing? Oh, it is one of the most fantastic feelings I can think of!

Basically, 'These people are bragging about their cars or clothes? Oh please, I have an alien robot attached to my spine, I can talk with her mentally, and we can fly! Oh, and none of you humans know it. HA!'

(Yes, I've started mentally, and sometimes out loud, referring to my fellow species-members as 'humans.' 'You hy_uum_ans annoy meee. Begone!'T'is funny!)

ShortCircuit enjoyed it too, and we constantly amused one another with imagined scenarios of us whipping out her wings and freaking everyone out. This make her laugh hysterically, because back on Cybertron, nobody would've been afraid of her. Here, it was a whole 'nother story.

Other than that, though, I didn't know why she enjoyed coming with me to school. We weren't able to joke or imagine **all** the time- I had to focus on actual school stuff most of the time to learn the useless school-information that I loathed.

While in homeroom, I asked ShortCircuit why she came along. Didn't it get boring for her after a while? I mean, she was stuck on my back the whole day!

She told me that being here in the torturous prison of unrelenting misery, AKA school, gave her a chance to 1; learn more about humans, 2; learn more about what humans teach and believe, and 3; mock us because of it.

I snorted quietly, as I pretended to read a book. Didn't want people to see me staring off into space and laughing every now and then. It might make them send me to a psychologist.

(And my views on psychologists/psychiatrists are partially based off of an iCarly episode in which Spencer says, "And these two [emails] are from psychologists who say they can... '_**help**_' me..." 0.o I want no humans inside my head except me and possibly my sis.)

Anyway, I was just mentally explaining the rules of a game called 'What Am I?' to ShortCircuit. Basically, there's 2 people, and they each think up an object, animal, plant, etc. that the other person 'is.' Then they ask stuff like 'Am I alive,' 'Do I fly,' 'Am I a type of bug,' stuff like that. And the other person answers, and asks their own questions. And whoever guesses what they are first, wins.

ShortCircuit and I had just realized how pointless this game was if played by two persons who can hear what one another are thinking, when the comlink turned on. Oh n-

"Human!" I winced at Starscream's voice, then rolled my eyes and nearly replied, "Cybertronian!" when I remembered that I was in a classroom and must stay shushed.

I also noticed that Starry's tone wasn't an announcement-y, impatient or gleefully annoying yell this time. It sounded a bit more tired, and more like 'I have news' rather than 'I'm yelling to bother you, human, haha.'

ShortCircuit agreed and responded to Starry, "What it be?" "Is the human with you?" Starscream inquired. "Yes," I hissed under my breath, hiding my mouth with one hand pretending to scratch my nose.

"Good," Starscream stated, almost sounding faintly relieved, "I have... 'found'... another little Defect Decepticon. I've left him at the human girls' house, and might require a- some assistance from you two."

I raised my eyebrows. **Starscream** was asking **us** for... for **help**? This was very weird. Something must be very wrong if he's asking us for help. Like what? The little 'Con he mentioned going crazy or something?

"How us help?" ShortCircuit inquired, and Starscream answered, "Well, if you could get an energy-signature dampener from the Autobots, I would... appreciate it."

ShortCircuit and I were astonished- the ever so proud and arrogant Starry was asking us for help! Something **had** to be seriously wrong here.

"Why you is asking us?" ShortCircuit inquired cautiously. This thrilled me- when we first met, I doubt she would've _ever_ questioned a bigger 'Con! Hooray for confidence!

ShortCircuit sent an amused grin through our link, and then we both focused on Starry's speaking. He scoffed, "Well I highly doubt that the high and mighty Autobots would care to give **me** an energy-signature dampener. The human- and, by association, _you_, femme- seem to be much better _friends_ with them."

I realized something; why was Starscream only _now_ worried about hiding his or the little Decepticons' energy-signatures? Did he think there might be other Cybertronians around to sense them?

ShortCircuit picked up on my thought and relayed it to Starscream. The jet answered reluctantly, "It is... _possible_, that another Decepticon may be following and trying to find me."

"Which one? Why?" I whispered, again hiding my mouth with one hand so it wouldn't look like I was talking to myself.

"The Decepticon whose little Defect pet I '_found_,'" Starscream responded blandly.

"**Ohh**," ShortCircuit stated, achieving the perfect tone with the wide-eyed and morbid insinuations of "Ah," "Oh rats," and "We are so dead."

Then I felt a flash of sudden alarm from her, just before she asked Starscream worriedly, "You took Defect-'Con, then bigger 'Con is want to fight! Them would be wanting to hurt you then. Is you hurt badly?"

A pause.

Then... "_Ye-es,_" Starscream retorted sarcastically, "I was fatally wounded and now I'm dying and going to crash onto that education facility the human attends. Of course not! I'm _fine_, malfunction." And the comlink turned off huffily.

ShortCircuit and I were both still suspicious, and we pondered over the conversation for the next few minutes, even as I walked to my next class.

I figured that Starscream would have been bragging if he'd been unhurt. ShortCircuit knew that most Decepticons, mostly the big ones, almost _never_ give up anything without a good fight, even if they don't need or want the thing they're fighting over.

It's a matter of pride and stubbornness, she explained. Most bigger Decepticons viewed the little 'Defects' as liabilities and burdens that they'd been ordered to take along.

But they'd probably still put up a fight if 'their' assigned 'Defect' was stolen. To not fight would be seen as a sign of weakness.

So, these bits of info both pointed to only one conclusion: Starscream was indeed injured.

But how badly?

_Ok. I started typing this chapter on Wednesday, and now it's Sunday morning, June 16. I typed from "She told me that being here in the torturous prison of unrelenting misery, AKA school, etc. etc." all the way down to this here, all this morning._

_Four of our fish died yesterday. I named them Sorr, Grie, Resc, and Afet. The names are parts of words. (The first two are depressing, and the second two are what someone in danger wants.) Let's make a silver lining out of this sad event; can you guess what the words are?_


	73. Chapter 73

_Hello! Sorry if I depressed people with speaking about the fish. Anyway, the words for their names were: Sorrow, Grief, Rescue, and Safety. Sorry 'bout that last one._

_To __Blackhooves__: Yes, me neither; thank you very much for your sympathy. Hmm, I don't really go into a depression, I just get kind of sad and pity them. I name our fish if they're dying or have died, so they can have a name before they fade from existence. Aw, that's so very kind of you, I think the fish would appreciate it._

_To __WolfSpiritFlower__: Heh, yeah, I'm sort of regretting mentioning the depressingness about the fish. Yes, yes, yes, and ok, that's understandable. Ohh, thank you very much for your sympathy. And yay, thank you muchly much fer' the compliment! Thank you for reviewing!_

_To __AutobotSoShi__: Heh heh heh, yeah! ShortCircuit says thank you very much. Well, actually, "I is giving you many thanks." Eh, maybe it's 'horrays'... Nah, yer's sounds better, 'hooray's.' Ohhh, thank you, thank you so very muchly for sympathy._

_To __Link's Rose__: Yup, yes, yep, and ok, I know that one was a weirder bit of a word, S'__**afet**__'y. Yay, thank you very much for the compliment! Ah yes, Screamy, that stubborn 'Con we all know an' love. Oh, worry not- he shall be fine. Mostly. Don't worry, he lives._

_To __Starsong008__: Yay, thanks, glad you liked de chapter. Exactly! (And very true- __**clever**__!) Oh, no no, he ain''t lost, just injured. Whoa, two? That'll be interesting- which one do you think will be leader? Mmh, phooey. Well, the leg-thingy makes him unique then, I guess. Oh yay! Thank you so very muchly much indeed. Hm, ok, I will do that, I'll look them up._

_To __Thunder strike 07__: Eh? Ok, ok, I'll update! Oh yippee, I'm so glad ya like it! Mmmm... *makes that 'so-so' gesture with one hand* He ain't on Megawit's side, or exactly the other d'Cons. So yeah, Starry __**has**__ sort of defected. Thanks for reviewing!_

_To __Transformers freak22__: Oh yay! Thank you so much! Ah, yes? Really? Cool, so do we! Oi, yeah, crazy orange feesh/fish. You can tell apart the mles from the females because the lowest little fin on the stomach, near the tail, is thin and pointy for males, and fan-like for females, who might be bigger. Yes, you did make me day, thank you!_

_Ok, now! Ooonnn to the chapter!_

ShortCircuit and I were temporarily distracted from our Starscream-worries by the increasing bother of schoolwork.

Eeeevilll schoolwork. We were in a foods class, and I had to memorize equivalents for measuring and things. UUURRGGHHHHHH...!

Neither ShortCircuit- (the advanced robotic alien on my spine)- nor I- (the brain-damaged crazy human)- could find any good reason for the absurdity of memorizing these equivalent-measures.

"Why three spoon-tea is one spoon-table?" ShortCircuit inquired confusedly, "Both is just **spoons**!"

I mentally shrugged and thought to her, 'I really dunno what the point is. Apparently though, knowing the exact number of ounces of some random food-object in 8 3/7 teaspoons or something, is somehow vitally important to the well-being and survival of every living thing on the planet.

_**Yippee**_." I added that last part with a gallon of disgust for school and it's idiocy. ShortCircuit scoffed, rolling her optics (Yes, I can tell, even though she'd behind my head) and muttering "Humans is weird."

'Yyep!' I almost said aloud, but kept it to us, 'And somehow _we're_ the species that ends up dominating the earth. Poor earth.'

'I doubt that's staying the same for long,' I sensed the femme thinking/scoffing to herself, a mixture of scorn and pity for humans leaking through with the thought.

(When listening in to her mind, ShortCircuit's thoughts always sound clearer, when she isn't stumbling over speaking out loud in English.)

She quickly apologized for having me hear and feel her scornful assessment, but I assured her that I didn't mind; most humans I met were idiotic.

Though I was a bit concerned at the insinuations- humans being the dominant species, she says that's going to change? Hmm... Cybertronians on Earth...

Deciding not to worry ShortCircuit by feeling uneasy or suspicious, I decided to look out the window instead. It was a wonderful day outside- perfect for flying!

Why'd we have to be stuck inside at school, when we could've been practicing our flying, _outside_? Lousy school.

School taught things like liters and tablespoons, algebra and diagramming sentences and which dead artist made what scribbly technique! It didn't teach valuable surviving skills, like how to make a fire, or tie a tourniquet or splint a bone, or get fresh clean water.

Or ways to escape from angry Decepticons or Autobots, which was something that flying _did_ help us with! School= not life-saving and not fun. Flying= very life-saving and very fun!

And again, it just looked sooo niiice todaayy... There were poofy clouds making a landscape in the light blue sky, a bree- **What was that?!**

I thought I'd seen a flash of something bright, reflecting the sunlight. Above the trees, very high up, big, reflect-y, but what? ShortCircuit and I both instantaneously jumped to the same, possible paranoid, conclusion: Cybertronian!

Maybe Starscream? "Here, I try this," ShortCircuit told me, just as an image of the window flashed across my vision. What was that?!

"I is sorry," ShortCircuit apologized, "I is trying to be looking through short memory, so us both can now see it again." 'Uh, ok...' I thought, looking down at the table.

An image of our fish tank flickered across my vision. 'Um...' I thought.

Then the taste of a sandwich. 'No, wrong sense.'

Then the feel of ferret fur on my hands. 'Wrong again, sorry. Can you stop please?'

"Ok," ShortCircuit told me, "I is partially sure you was seeing Starscream be flying above the trees. I is thinking I could did sense his energy-signature. I is going to call to him on mine comlink now."

There was the by-now-familiar comlink noise: a sort of faint, sliding click, combined with that sort of not-noise you sometimes 'hear' in yer' head when near a type of computer or old an TV.

The mini Decepticons had explained to me that this was a noise humans sometimes hear if they're near a transmitting comlink, or someplace between two Cybertronians speaking together over their comlinks.

"Starscream?" ShortCircuit called, and was quickly answered with the Screamer himself, "What, malfunction?" Huh. He wasn't usually this snappish.

Actually, Starscream didn't just sound _annoyed_, his voice sounded tight, strained. Maybe he _was_ hurt, in pain...!

"Is you hurt?" ShortCircuit questioned in concern, managing to also sound just faintly stern. Ooh, that's progress! ShortCircuit sent a mental, long-suffering sigh to me, then focused back on Starscream.

"Rrrh, just a dent," Starscream admitted with a growl, "But I believe I've eluded the Decepticon who was following me."

ShortCircuit and I were both breathing sighs of relief- not really in ShortCircuit's case. Cybertronians don't need to breathe exactly, the FanFictions are right- they use air (even water if they're underwater) to cool their systems.

Our sighs of relief were abruptly cut short when Starscream suddenly gasped in irritation, "Oh no, wait... Is that you near the school?"

"Yes," a contemptuous voice replied, dripping with scorn.

"Yyrrhck," Starscream hissed, "I told you to go to the human's house, you..." Here his speech devolved into Cybertronian language, and then the comlink turned off.

'What was he saying?' I thought to ShortCircuit, and she replied, 'Him did call someone else a... 'processorless, glitch-ridden, puny malfunctioning defect.'' She sounded sad by the end of it. I sent her a big mental hug to console her.

'Hey, at least he wasn't talking to you, right?' I comforted weakly, 'And whoever he _was_ talking to sounded pretty confident, yeh?'

'Ye-es,' ShortCircuit thought for me glumly, unconvinced. I sighed and reached my arm behind myself to pat her on the back. Which probably looked like me patting myself on the back.

Whatever had happened with Starscream, we both hoped that he was ok. Still, ShortCircuit whimpered in confusion and fear, both for us and him, and I echoed it quietly.

Whatever it was that'd happened, we couldn't do anything. For one thing, it was ½ way through school, and we/I couldn't run out of the room! Plus, Starry was already too far away for ShortCircuit to track his energy-signature.

I sighed in frustrated defeat. After several minutes of trying to think of plans, we heard my name called on the loudspeakers. The announcer-person was saying for me to come down to the front entrance. Huh. That was weird.

Unsure of what was going on, I packed up all my stuff in my (torturously heavy when combined with ShortCircuit's weight) backpack. And then we headed over towards the school's front entrance.

On the way there, ShortCircuit abruptly shrieked in fear. "Ow, ow! What?" I asked, instinctively putting my hands to my ears, which must've looked very concerning for anyone watching the hallway cameras.

"Another Cybertronian!" ShortCircuit almost wailed, terrified that it might be a bigger Decepticon, here to drag her away to Megatron to punish her! And me, too!

"Ok, ok, calm down," I murmured quietly, trying to sooth her, "Where are they? Ok? Do you know how close?"

"Yes," she stated, now slightly miffed, and shared her energy-signature sense with me. It was- I think I've described this before- like feeling a splash in a swimming pool through the water, except with my/her mind.

Weird, but incredible. ...Aaaaand close! In the school! Ok, if we were near the entrance we would probably be able to get out the front door and hopefully fly away...

Then we rounded a corner, and were at the front entrance of the school. Wait, there was... why was my **mom** here? I sure didn't call her on the phone. Shouldn't she've been at work like she usually was...?

"Come on," my mom told me, either urgently or impatiently, but sounding nothing like herself, "We have to leave now."

She stretched out her hand imperiously , reaching for mine. Out of instinct, I held out my hand and the woman grabbed it.

But I didn't feel skin or muscle there! It was metal! My hand went right through part of the fingers!

I gasped and pulled back in shock, just as ShortCircuit screeched in my ear, "RUN! IS CYBERTRONIAN!"


	74. Chapter 74

_Hallooo! Here I be with a chapter-y. Ooh, I can't wait to see the reviews- I was so happy with my cliffhanger..._

_To __AutobotSoShi__: Haha, yes it does. Oh yay, I'm so glad you think so! I can imagine how the sense thing feels, but it's hard to describe, so thank you very muchly for liking it._

_To __Transformers freak22__: Thank you! I hope you'll like what happens next. Oh no problem, I'm just really glad I was __**able**__ to help. Hahaha, yeah, so much stuff with good info usually has long and __**super**__-complex words that make no sense. Yer' welcome!_

_To __Starsong008__: Yup, a cliffhanger it be. ...__**Ohhh**__, ok, thank you for correcting me with that. (He didn't exactly lose, but he snatched up the little defect-'Con and flew away from the big 'Con.) Oh, that would be great! (Armada Starscream is my favorite, because he's a good-guy. He was nice to the Minicons, he'd make a good leader, I think..) __**Wow**__ that's fast! (And maybe can get respect by being a fair leader to them and helping if they're hurt or something.) Aw, thank you so very muchly much! Yes, Summer Vacation means marvelous writing time!_

_To __Summerflower13__: (Hi, new reviewer!) Ok, I'm updating. And no, I'm not the most awesome. There's WAY better writers than me, but thank you very much. Thanks fer' reviewing!_

_To __Iluvsoundwave__: Eh? Wow, thank you so extremely very much! I didn't really think I was being that creative; there's a bunch of 'FanFiction's and 'DeviantArt's where the mini TFs are alive, but thank you again. I'll admit, I was pleased with myself for that bit. Haha, maybe; don't worry- if there was anything traumatizing, they'd probably close their optics. Thanks very much for reviewing!_

_To __The Almighty Pickle Lord XD__: Hahaha, wow, I like yer' username. And yeah, a couple people reviewed on the Pie Trees, heh heh. Thank you for reviewing!_

_To __Thunder strike__: __**Ohh**__, thank you so much! Ah, you'll get to meet the new Cybertronian soon, (and I hope you'll tell me what'cha think of 'im.) Um, no, I don't like it when eople and/or characters die, so there shall be no dying here. Umm, noo, though a couple Cybertronians __**do**__ like one another a lot already... *grins*_

_Ok! Now, on with the chapter!_

"Whaat'ss... goinggg... **oonnn**," I hissed between clenched teeth, feeling scared and nervous and totally lost.

"Be quiet, human," the Cybertronian told me- he sounded male. It was unnerving because the hologram-of-my-mom didn't have the mouth moving as the Cybertronian spoke.

ShortCircuit and I didn't even know what faction the guy was from! Most Cybertronians sort of 'mark' their energy-signatures with their faction. It makes no difference in the signature, just labels it as a 'Con or 'Bot.

Walking beside an unknown Cybertronian who was hiding within a hologram of one's mother, leaving school for a possibly-even-worse-fate-than-homework, while one's ally/friend (Starscream) is most-likely injured, is not very much fun.

Yeah, it's way more exciting than school, but also a bit more life-or-death scary. ShortCircuit had contacted Frenzy, her brother, but he was working with Barricade at the moment and way too far away to help.

He _had_ however, promised to find and viciously attack anyone who tried to hurt her. The fact that he'd sounded nervous and worried wasn't exactly reassuring though. At least he tried.

ShortCircuit had tried contacting Starscream, but he'd been minimizing his energy-signature and comlink-range. ShortCircuit was too jumpy and scared right now to explain it to me, so she sort of... let the idea... bleed over.

Hm. How to explain? Well, normally, she explains stuff by talking to me. I think she finds it nice to explain stuff to someone else, because she rarely got the chance before.

Anyway, normal explaining is usually through talking.

Or sometimes slightly-blurrier thought-speaking, which shows faint pictures and exactly what she's thinking.

But ShortCircuit's thought-speaking feels a bit more unexplainable. Like understanding a summary of something and trying to partially translate some of it into yer' own language as you learn it.

Anyway again, this was more like a person knowing something, and sending a mix of the memories and ideas of it to someone else.

So, Cybertronians could shrink the distance that their energy-signature is sense-able, but it also shrinks their range of energy-signature-sensing, and comlink-speaking. This was usually done during scouting missions, or other sneaky activities.

Cybertronians could also completely turn off their signature-sensing abilities to almost entirely cloak their own energy signature. They rarely did this, because it made them uncomfortable to be unable to sense anyone else.

(They still did it sometimes during rare games of 'Find-and-chase,' which is like hide-and-go-seek-tag. I'm told it's very popular amongst flyers.)

"What's. Going. On," I repeated to the mystery-Cybertronian, feeling more tense and scared by the second. We were headed towards a minivan-ish sort of car parked all alone in front of the building.

'Is that another Cybertronian?' I mentally asked ShortCircuit, looking at the vehicle. 'No,' she told me, 'Only Cybertronians nearby is me and him with the hologram.'

She tried to call Blindside and Static, but we only got a faint reply from Static. She told ShortCircuit - though the comlink connection was, well, static-y – that she and Blindside had their energy-signatures small, so the Decepticon who'd injured Starscream wouldn't find them.

She'd also had to force Blindside to go into recharge-mode so he'd quit freaking out and worrying about ShortCircuit. This made a huge wave of flattered-ness surge from ShortCircuit, and whatever the Cybertronian equivalent to blushing is.

I felt myself grinning, which is unsurprising when a very-happy Cybertronian's emotions are leaking over to mine.

Then we were right next to the minivan-ish vehicle, which had tinted windows. The Cybertronian paused, and the hologram of my mom turned around in a slow circle, maybe surveying the surroundings or checking that no one else was there.

I saw pointed edges of metal, turning smoothly to one side poking out from part of a lower arm and the head of the hologram, which was a bit unnerving. (Though probably the least of my worries.)

It was like the Cybertronian was turning around inside the hologram. Was this unusual? ShortCircuit perked up at that, some vague memory popping up, though still blurry.

Then the vehicle door was open, and the Cybertronian pointed to it and ordered curtly, "Go inside here." He didn't sound nasty, just... I guess really firm, and a little bit impatient.

Hesitantly, I put my leg inside the vehicle, leaned forward to climb in... and fell over. My foot went right through the vehicle's floor, and I fell forward, landing on the rough parking lot.

"Wha...?" I muttered in confusion, looking around. The car was a hologram. Well, this just got more confusing.

"No, no," ShortCircuit told me, "This is makings more sense to me now! I is thinking I be knowing this Cybertronian. Him is maybe a Decepticon malfunction, is slightly famous for making much holograms."

'Like Mirage?' I thought, an image of the G1 Autobot popping into my head. "Yes," ShortCircuit told me, feeling a bit less scared now.

The Decepticon walked inside the vehicle-hologram and made the door close. Then the hologram of my mom, and of the 'vehicle's' interior, vanished.

Now it was like being inside a big, hollow, minivan-shaped shell. The Decepticon was a bit taller than me, with mostly dark bronze armor tinged with black inner armor. He had intelligent amber optics, sharp and bright.

"My name is Tarnish," he informed me, "Are you Starscream's human ally and ShortCircuit's flight-partner?" "Uh, yes? I'm Seekjei," I replied, "Did Starscream tell you?"

He glanced away with almost a tiny hint of distain, "Yes. This hologram is going to move forward now. Stay inside of the hologram by running and following me."

I did so, walking forward as the vehicle-hologram rolled forward and turned to one side. "So, um," I asked, "Are you on our side?"

The Decepticon, Tarnish, glanced at me for a second, his yellow-orange optics hard, "I am on the side of the Cybertronian anomalies known as malfunctions and defects."

He looked away again and continued as the vehicle-hologram sped up, "The Cybertronians residing at your home told me more of you both."

"Static and Blindside?" I asked, jogging now, and the Decepticon stated, "Yes."

"O-kay," I responded slowly, unsure. ShortCircuit asked me mentally to ask where we were going, so I inquired, "So, um, where are go-"

"We are moving to a location," Tarnish interrupted, "where you- ShortCircuit- and Seekjei, can take flight while undetected by humans."

"Uh," I started to say.

Tarnish continued, ignoring me, "We are going to assist Starscream since he is injured and needs assistance being repaired." The Decepticon scoffed, "He won't admit it, even though his wings and a quarter of his exterior are half-scrapped."

"What?!" I gasped, echoed by ShortCircuit. I was running to stay inside the vehicle-hologram by now, panting, "He's... that... hurt?"

"Yes, I just told you that," Tarnish replied with a slight sneer. Then his vehicle-hologram turned again and he alerted us, "We are here." He stopped his running abruptly, and the car-hologram vanished. We were near some thick trees nearby the school, hidden from view.

"Whoa- whaauh!" I exclaimed, as I- in my efforts to stop quickly- fell over. Oww! I scrapped- I mean scraped- my knees and one hand a bit. Some skin was grated off and it burned.

"Will those injuries cause you difficulty?" Tarnish questioned, observing dispassionately. I shook my head, keeping my jaw clenched as the abraded skin stung. I stood up, grinding my teeth slightly.

The Decepticon nodded almost approvingly, then told me, "Fly quickly to your house, human. Blindside and Static have collected supplies to assist in healing Starscream."

I nodded, "Thank you." I still thought he was kinda bossy. ShortCircuit agreed, 'Him is known for that, but is usually being much respected by defects. Still bossy.'

Then we unfurled our wings and I ran forward, grimacing as my knees stung. Then we stretched, flapped our wings, and I leapt forward.

My feet lost contact with the ground as we swept our wings down, and up we flew. Ahh, flying felt so good...

"**Hurry**, please," Tarnish reminded me, impatiently and a bit sarcastically.

I scowled, and ShortCircuit and I flew away, muttering about the audacity of some 'Cons.

_Here's a bit more about talking, thought-speaking, and bleeding-over. For example, talking-explaining about a sandwich= just like normal talking about a sandwich. Thinking-explaining= visualizing and thinking words and/or sentences about a sandwich. Bleeding-over= blurry whoosh or bundled-up packet of opinions and memories about sandwiches._

_Just for example. (What? I like sandwiches.)_


	75. Chapter 75

_Hellooo! I've been coming up with bunches of crazy story ideas and typing them up for myself and FireFlare to read. I get obsessed with one story, show, FanFic, or idea, and then another, then another! It's crazy! Well, of course, __**I'm**__ crazy, so it sort of makes sense then?_

_To __Cutie Kyuubi__: Haha, yes I agree- sandwiches are great (and very yummy). Hm, I eat peanut butter sandwiches a lot. Are those ok? And oh. Well, then I guess ya' eat healthier than most people?_

_To __Summerflower13__: Hahaha haha, __**wow**__. I had __**no**__ idea anybody would review about the sandwiches I mentioned! Thank you.*starts laughing to self again in happy surprise*_

_To __AutobotSoShi__: Mm-hmm. Frenzy and ShortCircuit are a very good brother and sister to one another. I think Blindside is cute too- something of his being scared/timid but kind and sweet._

_To __Starsong008__: Eeeh, yeah, poor Starry. *cringes* Awww, thank you! Starry tells me to thank you for him. Oh, no problem! Yer "Project Starsong" FanFiction is so exciting and fun to read! (And I can't wait to see what's next!)Ah, okee-dokey. Wow, cool! That's a lot of mini TFs. (It's spelled 'Deluxe,' I needed spellcheck's help.)Yay! I'm so very glad you liked the chappy-ter. Hahaha, __**why**__? Why is your dishwasher evil?_

_To __Blackhooves__: Ohhh, thank you so very muchly much! Thank you a thousand times, you awesomely kind person, you. OK, yes, I shall indeed keep up the work. (It's easier for me to type up the more exciting chapters.) Aww, no! Why? Can I help you get ideas? You gave me wonderful, hilarious ideas for the pranks, so maybe I can help you? I really wanna help now!_

_Ok, and now, on to the chapter!_

ShortCircuit and I flew as fast as we could towards my/ our home, which admittedly, wasn't very fast. Why? Because every time I try to eat less junk-food, I fail.

"Think we're... in range for... the comlink?" I panted as we flew. "Maybe," ShortCircuit replied, "I now will be testing it."

There was the clicking comlink-noise, and then ShortCircuit called, "Blindside? Is you hearing me?"

Before she'd even finished the last word, Blindside was answering, "Yes! Yes, are you alright, ShortCircuit? Tarnish was here- I don't know how many minutes ago; Static forced me to go into recharge. Starscream is injured. Are you alright?"

He was speaking nearly as fast as Static! I felt a huge smile on my face as ShortCircuit replied, feeling flattered and happy, "Yes, yes, I is alright, Blindside. Tarnish did tell Seekjei and myself that Starscream does be having injuries. Him also did say that you and Static are having supplies that both of you did gather from the house of the humans. Does you?"

"Yes, we have some items collected," Blindside replied, calming down, "They are in the living room, upon a large, old sheet from a closet. Where are you? Are you alright?"

I sensed ShortCircuit smiling delightedly as she reassured him, "I is alright; Do not be worrying very much. Seekjei and myself do be coming by flying to collect supplies to be helping to repair Starscream. Many thanks to you and Static for the collecting of the supplies. How was Tarnish finding us at the school much time before?"

"TarnishCameToSeekjei'sAndFreefel'sHomeAfterStarsc reamDroppedHimInATreeALittleDistanceAway," Static told us, piping in to the comlink conversation, "HeSawStarscreamGettingInjuredyByTheBigDecepticonW hoStarscreamHadTakenHimFrom, IThinkTheBigDecepticonWasBlackoutOrSomeOtherLoneFl ier, TarnishCameAndToldUsToGetSuppliesToRepairStarscrea mBecause, TarnishSaid,ItWouldBeAWasteIfWeLetOneOfOurOnlySupp ossedAlliesDie, SoHeMadeAGenericVehicleHologramTarnishIsReallyBoss yIKnowHimFromWhenMoreOfUsWereBackHomeOnCybertron- HeWasOnMyTeamHe'sBossyButReallyLoyalToKeepingDefec tsSafeIHopeStarscreamIsOk."

As usual, it took my brain a while to process what Static had said. "Us is hoping Starscream does be staying safe too," ShortCircuit told her friend, "But us is not knowing where him is. Does you be knowing?"

Blindside responded promptly, "Yes. Starscream is in the region near the clearing where the Autobots gathered and released Static."

A quick, random image of some army dude holding up a sword and yelling "Unleash the Static!" popped into my brain. Thoughts for later.

ShortCircuit wondered at my insanity for a second and then quickly refocused on Blindside as he continued; "Starscream flew over your neighborhood, literally dropped Tarnish in a tall tree and then left immediately.

He has been leading away the Decepticon who he had taken Tarnish from. He is still flying, and is, exhausting himself as a result. I have informed Starscream that the la- the _other_ large Decepticon is almost certainly too far away to sense any of our energy signatures, but he continues to..."

Blindside trailed off. "Starscream seems to be flying lower. He is landing... It is not a crash landing; he is finally..." Blindside stopped talking, as though worried about offering any sarcasm or insult.

Then he spoke with a mix of relief and exasperation, "Starscream has finally landed. He is in the large expanse of trees that are next to the clearing where, ShortCircuit, you and I were reunited with Static. It is amazing that he has not landed before this."

"OhWellMaybeHe'llLearnHisLessonAndListenToAdviseNo w," Static chimed in, "HeyShortCircuitAndHumanIMeanSeekjei, You'llFindHimEasyEvenWithoutSensingAnyEnergySignat ures JustFollowTheTrailOfEnergonBloodDropletsOnTheGroun dAndSoftGreenStuff OhYesGrass TheEnergonBloodMadeTheGrassSizzleASmallBitWhereThe reWereSpatters OohIsn'tSpattersAFunnyWord,YourEarthLanguagesHaveS uchFunnyWords PleaseHurryGoToStarscreamWeAreWorriedHereAtYourHou seAndWeHaveNothingToDoExceptForMeStaringAtFish,Hey ThoseTwoMalesShouldStopFollowingThatFemaleAren'tTh ereLawsAgainstThatSortOfThing?"

I spent the rest of the trip home trying to answer all of Static's statement/question. As for that last part, I implored the femme to keep the chase-ers and poor chase-ee apart.

I had NO wish to have those crazy fish continuing in their reproductive activities. Ugh!

When ShortCircuit and I finally reached our neighborhood, soaring high above it in case any humans might be outside and looking up-which most rarely do, silly us-, ShortCircuit called in a whisper on the comlink, "Does this be a safe time for us to land?"

"Yes," Blindside whispered back. It was still really loud over the comlink, considering how close we were to where he and Static were; our house.

ShortCircuit and I took the risk of being seen and dropped several feet at a time- lurching downwards in brief falls that made me almost shriek, and quick stops which made me feel ill.

Then, once close enough, we finally coasted diagonally down to a pine tree, where I collided with some branches and managed to climb down.

I darted into the back yard, behind our house, and then we fluttered up to the dining room window. Static zipped up (she'd been monitoring the fish and occasionally shooing them away from one another with her hands) and said hi, then went back to the fish.

Blindside opened the window, then took out the screen.

We gratefully rested our wings as I flopped onto the window sill and slithered into the room. Walking forwards on my hands resulted in my right hand stinging and my lower half falling from the window sill to the floor with a painful thud.

"MmMMRrngiih," I moaned/whimpered, straining to muffle the noise. I'd nearly forgotten the fact that I had fallen over earlier and grazed my knees and right hand on the rough tar of the place near school, where Tarnish and us had hidden near the trees. Oww...

Static darted back to us, "HeySeekjeiAreYouOkYouLookedAndSoundedBad YouLookTiredAndYouSoundedAsIfYouWereInjuredAreYouI njured DidTarnishInjureYouNoHeWouldn'tDoThatHe'sRatherBos syButHeIsn'tNastyOrCruel AtLeastNotOnPurposeSo NoHeWouldn'tInjureYouBadlyHowDidYouInjureYourself? "

"Mmrrghff," I growled/mumbled as I trudged toward the pile of supplies that the two 'Cons had gathered, wishing I could just ask her to slow down. But, grouchy though I was, I didn't want to hurt her feelings. I felt ShortCircuit beaming at me mentally, thanking me for being very nice.

I sent a mental smile of thanks back to her as I looked through the supplies, briefly wondering at why some were there. Blindside followed after us silently, his claw-feet stepping soundlessly across the carpet.

The items piled on top of a large sheet included duct-tape, old shirts that were too torn or threadbare to be of any use for wearing, other old cloth-items, a ball of soft blue yarn, and a large sophisticated-looking device of some sort.

The gadget-y thing was about the size of a board-game box, but a little longer than it was wide. After a moment of consideration, I cautiously poked it on the side where there were the fewest buttons and screens and stuff.

Nothing happened- like maybe an explosion or a bomb countdown- and I breathed a sigh of relief. ShortCircuit meanwhile, was giggling at how silly I was. I scowled and mentally humphed at her.

ShortCircuit apparently knew what it was, but she wasn't telling me, because she wanted to later surprise me with what it was.

After a faint struggle with curiosity, I decided not to try to mentally overhear anything about it. ShortCircuit thanked me, and I humphed again, but more good-humoredly this time.

Blindside stepped slightly closer and inquired, "Will these be enough for now? I did not wish to overburden either of you with too heavy a load."

"No, don't worry," I promised the cautious Decepticon, "It's great. Thank you." ShortCircuit added in a very appreciative chirp, and Blindside's face lit up in a smile, his silver optics brightening.

On impulse- ShortCircuit's impulse- I abruptly asked, "May I give you a hug?" I then snapped my mouth closed, startled that I'd asked that.

Blindside looked startled and uncertain, but nodded warily.

"I- we have to hurry to Starscream," I explained in embarrassment as I (very awkwardly) hugged the blind 'Con, "So not much time fer' ShortCircuit to come off my spine, hug, and then reattach. So... uh yeah, this is from her."

This was so awkward. But Blindside just nodded slowly and I let go, glad he couldn't see how very embarrassed I was.

The blind Decepticon pointed in Starscream's direction for us, undeniably accurate thanks to his energy-signature-sensing abilities.

'I hope you're happy,' I mentally told ShortCircuit curtly as we- well, _I_- gathered up the supplies, wrapping the corners of the sheet around them carefully.

"I would be feeling much more happy if I did be the person who was giving Blindside a hug," ShortCircuit replied, not really resentful, but mostly a bit smug.

"Whatever," I muttered, pouting, as we scrambled out the dining room window. Static and Blindside handed us the sheet of items, and we thanked them, then flew up- past the window, past the roof, up into the air.

The large bundle of supplies made us even more weighed down than usual- ShortCircuit's weight makes it harder for me to walk, run, climb, etc. My weight makes it hard for us to stay aloft while flying.

But, we managed. Hm. That reminded me... "Hey, ShortCircuit," I asked as we flew in the direction that Blindside had pointed us in, "How'd Blindside know which direction for us to go in? Or know where Starscream was at all?

Weren't he and Static ordered to keep their signatures an' signature-sensing- thingies really small? Or something?"

ShortCircuit snickered quietly, smug, "Blindside does not be wasting his very good sensing-ability when it does be able to be helping. Him does not be **always** following orders!"

I grinned.

_HIIIIII! End-of-the-chapter author note here! I just wanna say- and yes, this is going to be a list of excuses- I would've updated at least two days ago, buuuuttt...I spontaneously decided to go with my dad to see the movie "Pacific Rim" (I feel bad for the Kaigus and humans who died, but other than that- and 18 occurrences of swear words- it was amazing and epic!). I've started reading a very exciting book which a movie is gonna be based off of- "Ender's Game." One of our fish, whom I named Revi, died. Aaaaaannnnndddddd... WE HAVE UNOFFICIALLY ADOPTED A KITTEN! Oooooh he's so cute and smart and wonderful, the adorable little fluffy! Here, I will refer to him as Jaeger (the German word for 'hunter,' used in "Pacific Rim," and pronounced "YAY-gr.") WOOHOO!_


	76. Chapter 76

_HALOOOO! I'm back, and I'm so happy because we still have Jaeger, he's adorable and friendly, and all are doing mostly well! And you wonderful people give such kind reviews, thank you all!_

_To __Blackhooves__: Yay! Thank you so very muchly, and I'm glad you liked it. Yeah, I do keep adding in lots of new stuff to my story, so I guess it is really different. Good-different, I hope. No problem, I'll keep going; I'm not giving up the story. Thanks again, you're a very nice and encouraging person!_

_To __WolfSpiritFlower__: Awww, thank you! Jaeger sends his thanks, and brags of his accomplishments: adorableness, ability-to-escape, and doing play-battle with the ferrets and my hand. Haha, I'm glad you liked that bit- I love putting humor in my story._

_To __Starsong008__: Yippee, thank you so very muchly! Yup; the movie was AWESOME! Wooowwww, I saw it with my Dad and one of HIS friends, too! (Coincidence? 0.O) Me too, I LOVED the Kaigus. They were so cool! (The crocodile one was my favorite.) Oh yay! I shall read and review, yer' story is so good and fun! Hahaha, I've found that to get a song un-stuck from one's head, think of a different song, preferably a fast and exciting one. Ohh, haha, that IS an evil dishwasher! Ehhhhh... creepy... pasta? What is this? (Scary spaghetti? *shrugs*) Aww, thank you so very much! And Gypsy Danger was SUCH a cool jaeger! Glad you like my story, your's is really really great, and no problem- I like reviewing._

_To __Cutie Kyuubi__: Eh, that's totally fine. I love dogs too, all canines actually, especially wolves. Yeah, I heard somewhere, (probably that food class ShortCircuit and I were stuck in,) that vegans are more healthy than most other people. Ah, haha, my sis and I sometimes forget to eat breakfast during the Summer. Hmf, work should not be so mean and exhausting to peole- how dare it! *laughs*_

_To __ZabuzasGirl__: Uuuummmmmmm... I HAVE updated. You reviewed on my first chapter. This here now has been updated about 75 times. But thanks fer' reviewing!_

_To __AutobotSoShi__: Um, I don't celebrate birthdays, so that would be a coincidence. But I'm very glad that I made you happy! Oh yay, I'm so glad ya like Static, she's very sweet and friendly. Hmm, I think she's a bit more like Bluestreak._

_Ok! Now! On to the chappy-ter!_

ShortCircuit and I flew, once again, as fast as we could- heading towards the direction in which Blindside had pointed us.

Our blind gave us frequent comlink-calls to let us know if we were still headed in the right direction, which I was grateful for.

I partially knew the way to the forest/ clearing place by roads, but not in a straight line. And ShortCircuit's energy-signature-sensing abilities had not miraculously gotten a hundred times better.

So thusly, Blindside's directions were very helpful, and very much appreciated.

It was at least easier to locate Starscream now anyway. He'd finally landed and stopped flying around all over the place exhausting himself.

ShortCircuit and I, nearly there, decided to give Starscream a call of our own, to make sure he was ok. ShortCircuit called on the comlink, then mentally nodded for me to speak.

She figured Starry might be miffed to have persons being concerned for him and disobeying orders, so I'd be the best one to talk with him. Greeeaat. Thanks a lot.

Oh well, I wanted to talk with him anyway- it was fun. "Starrryy...?" I called cautiously, slowing down in flight. Nope, that made us have to flap our wings differently, harder, which was louder. Mmf; I wanted quieter.

"You there, Starry?" I asked cautiously, speeding up and letting our wing-beats slow down, and we soared slowly over/along a road. Ahh, that was better...

Staying above a road allowed ShortCircuit and I to float a little on the slight winter thermals, warm pockets of air from the sun-heated tar, rising up like invisible hot-air-balloons.

"What?" Starscream retorted, sounding annoyed and very loud. Good: he was close by.

Then he continued, sounding slightly confused, "No, wait. Why do you sound so loud on the comlink?"

I gave a mental shrug and ShortCirucit answered Starry simply, "Us is flying near where you is." Starscream responded, surprised, "What? That's **your** energy-signature up there?"

"Yep," I told him, "Here, we'll prove it to you by flying over to you. Or, at least where we think you are."

Since we were at the clearing near the forest, there were no people around, so we didn't have to worry about anyone seeing us. Except maybe for random drivers, but there were few to none of them peoples.

During this, ShortCircuit was able to locate Starscream's energy-signature, which was indeed somewhere in the trees.

ShortCircuit and I flapped our wings less frequently, slowing down and slowly losing altitude. We coasted off the warm thermal and flapped harder as we soared closer to the tree line of the small forest.

"Well! Here we are," I called quietly, hoping it wasn't too loud across the comlink, "So? Are we the energy-signature ya detected?"

"Yes," Starscream answered, sounding just faintly surprised, "How did you find me?"

"Can't say we've really _found_ you, Starry," I told him, "Since I can't still see where you are. But Bl-" 'No!' ShortCircuit interrupted me, 'Do not be telling Starscream of who it was that did help us be finding him.'

"Well," I continued, "Someone helped point us in the right direction."

We heard Starscream scoff, which was a bit loud on the comlink, and he told me, "Human, I am not missing my processor- I can tell that you meant to say Blindside."

ShortCircuit moaned slightly. Starscream continued, "I'm not going to harm him, if that's what you are concerned about. I _am_ displeased that obviously he didn't listen to my order about keeping sensor-ranges minimized though."

"Well, we needed to find you," I explained, "ShortCircuit found yer' energy signature just a bit ago. Aaaaannnnd... I think I have found... you!"

ShortCircuit turned off the comlink, which was getting too loud to speak across anyway, as we headed over to where I'd found some evidence of Decepticon presence.

Some branches were broken off a few trees in one spot, and the edges of some were scorched a little bit. Actually, now that we were closer, I could also see something wet and shiny smeared or dotted on them: energon blood.

There were dark pinpricks of energon blood on the ground too, gleaming on the dull-colored floor of the wintery forest. A couple dead leaves were blackening where their edges touched the Cybertronian liquid.

I shivered slightly- which is weird to do in the air- and went back to looking for the exact location of Starry.

"Found you!" I called gently to Starscream, after I spotted the slight shine of metal through the gray and brown branches and trunks of trees. In response, one of the trees, a few yards away from the broken-branch-trees, twitched.

ShortCircuit and I flapped awkwardly through the biggest gap we could find, then came in for a running landing between the tree trunks.

I scrunched up my nose when I noticed a scent. It smelled like something that was burnt. Sort of like smoke, but sharper and worse-smelling.

"Umm, Starry? Are you on fire?" I asked, marveling at how absurd the question sounded.

"Of course not," Starscream snorted, but his voice sounded just faintly strained, in addition to his normal amount of scorn for human intelligence or lack thereof.

As I walked closer, and saw what'd happened, instead of just a small glimpse of metal, I winced. I'm no doctor, but this was bad.

It looked like a plane crash, which, I suppose, it technically was.

The Decepticon was... mostly, in jet-mode, but partially transformed so he didn't look as/ so streamlined or entirely jet-like.

The metal of his wings was ragged on the edges and looked badly scorched in a couple places, where thin smoke trickled out of. As well as a dull, light-indigo liquid, which stained other portions of his exterior as well.

"Oh Starry," I breathed softly in horror and pained concern. Oh my goodness...

"Spare me your pity, you insignificant little human," the Decepticon growled as ShortCircuit and I quietly approached.

"Heeyy, come oonn," I murmured, in the same kind of voice I'd use to speak to an injured wild animal, though I still felt just slightly hurt. Injured persons lash out, I reminded myself, it's ok.

I set down the big sheet full of stuff, unsure of how to help. Or at least how to help without damaging Starscream's already-wounded pride.

"What's that," the injured 'Con stated, still sounding just a smidge hostile, and shifting his position slightly. I winced at the scraping of metal as his injured and bent sections grated against one another.

"Supplies," I answered to his non-question-ish question, "Static n' Blindside collected them to h- to... _assist_, in repairing you." I doubted he'd want me to say 'help.'

"Rrh, I don't need help," Starscream growled- (ha! I was right!)- and, to prove his point, he began transforming more to his robot-form.

But less than a second later, there was a grating screech as one of his limbs scraped against one of his horribly damaged wings.

The shredded metal caught, pulling in what must have been agony, judging from the barely-suppressed, muffled shriek of pain that Starscream attempted to hide.

"You're _hurt_," I murmured, a plaintive whimper in my voice. It hurt to see how much pain Starscream must've been in.

After a surly pause, Starscream grudgingly ordered, "Well then, see if you can fix me!"

Even as I walked towards the wounded Decepticon, I had to stifle a laugh as I thought the last two words of Starry's sentence.

ShortCircuit read my thoughts, and laughed for us both.

_HALLOOOOOO! I would've updated way sooner, but 1: I've become lazy. 2:Our Dad has introduced Freefel and us to "Babylon 5." And 3: I've been reading, drawing, and playing with Jaeger, who likes to stare out the window and bite my feet. Hahaha, hope you liked the chapter, please tell me which parts you liked, didn't get, have questions of, want to give advice on, etc. And I'll try to update sooner!_


	77. Chapter 77

_Hi, here I am with another chapter! And thank all you wonderful review people for reviewing! Thank you all so much for all of the reviews that you keep kindly giving. Ok, now, to answer some of said-reviews..._

_To __Starsong008__: Yeah, I love playing with Jaeger, he's so soft n' fluffy. Aww, hahaha, that sounds both annoying and adorable! Glad I could help. :) Oh yay, thank you! Star here, or your mini TF Star? Aah, no worries; I constantly update late because of my muchly laziness. Oh yeah, my Dad told FireFlare and I a little about that. They __**do**__ look very much like Transformers. Aw, that's so nice of you for them- I hope they settle in happily and can be friends with the TFs._

_To __Blackhooves__: Yippee! Thank you very much! I'm so glad ya love it. Oh yay! Yesyesyes I will indeed keep it up! Thank you! Friends! Yay!_

_To __AutobotSoShi__: Yeah, poor Starry. Haha, yes, he is indeed. But that's how you can tell he's ok- the snarkiness!_

_To __Cutie Kyuubi__: *shrugs* Does that make you have an allergy to meat? Pffft, hahaha, yeah, Ratchet can be very strict. Beware his epic wrenches of doom! Aahhhhh, actually, you clever person, a few are going to be in a chapter very soon! Not this one, but really soon. Hm, good point, mini-Ratchet could. But he's got only experience with repairing his fellow mini-TFs, not giant metal Cybertronians._

_Ok, now! On toooo the chapter!_

"Sooo..." Istated, angling a weird device around one of Starscream's jagged and torn wings, "Blindside invented this thing?" I'd been told that he liked making stuff, and I assumed that he'd made and invented this... well, whatever this thingy was.

ShortCircuit, who'd detached from my spine earlier to help Starscream, smiled briefly and shrugged. At the same moment, Starscream stated, "No."

"Ok then," I told him, "Just wondering. I mean, it's incredible how this thing can heal your wings like this."

"It doesn't," the injured Decepticon retorted. I waited for him to say more, but he didn't.

"Okaaaayyyyy," I growled slightly, "Can- no, _**wiillll**_ you tell me what it does?"

(I've long since answered sing-songly, "I _ca-aan_," to whenever someone asks, "**Can** you etc. etc. ...?" Then they have to ask "_Will_ you," and they sometimes get miffed-ish. Haha.)

"If I feel it is worth wasting my time to explain it to you, then yes," the 'Con informed me, "But I doubt that you would understand it anyway."

ShortCircuit glared at the jet, whose wing tips she was carefully folding back into place. The device did something to make them... soft-ish? Well, not soft, but easier to bend I guess. (I tried, I couldn't move the wing-edges more than an inch.)

I pouted miffedly and growled, "If you're done insulting my intelligence, Starscream, maybe you could just tell me what the thing does? Or maybe you don't know either?"

He scoffed, "I'm not going to fall for that, you know. 'Maybe you don't know either?' 'Of course I know; it's...' That is an old trick, human."

"No, it's classic," I told him, wondering whether or not I should poke his sensitive and injured wing tips. After some difficulty, I decided not to.

"No, it's old," Starscream persisted, "And besides, do you think that I would allow somebody to repair me, if I didn't know anything about the repair equipment?"

I poked my tongue out the side of my mouth, slightly pouting, but acknowledged, "Good point. Now you please tell me?"

"You're persistent," Starscream stated.

"Stubborn," I added/corrected.

"Yes, that's true."

"So are you."

"What?"

"Yer' muchly de stubborn."

Starscream sighed. "You're not going to shut up until I explain this device to you, are you?" "Nope!" I told him, grinning.

"Fine," he stated, then said something in Cybertronian. A bunch of things in Cybertronian.

"Starrrrryyyy," I whined, "C'mon! In English, please!"

He laughed, and then told me, "Very well. Here is a simplified version for you." I bit my tongue at the insinuation of human-are-stupid.

"The device, called a-" [some Cybertronian word] "in Cybertronian, uses a specific combination of heat, sound, and particle waves to somewhat weaken some of the atomic bonds in Cybertronian metal. This causes it to become slightly malleable and possible to bend."

"Okaayy," I murmured slowly, nodding a bit as I moved the whatever-it-was device around another gouged bit of wing, "Soo... why?"

"Originally, the idea of making alloys pliable was to be used as a weapon. To make our enemies practically melt." I shuddered in disgust.

Starscream continued, a slightly reassuring tone now in his voice, "But that didn't work. The waves need to be focused and on one place for some time; there's no broad-range for it, so it's useless as a weapon. Except perhaps to get out of restraiints.

A Decepticon saw the possibilities of it, not as a weapon, but as a healing device. For example, if my wings and the rest of my exterior were to heal naturally, they would heal the way they look now- ragged and... highly uncomfortable.

The device allows the torn pieces of metal to smooth out and meld back together easier."

"OHhhh," I responded, nodding in understanding, "Cool! Sort of like if a human got some of their skin partially ripped off in an accident, and someone put it back together, but without any stitches."

"In a way I suppose, yes," Starscream allowed. "Neat!" I exclaimed happily, "So, who _did_ make it? They must've been brilliant!"

"Bloodstream," Starscream answered.

"Who's he?" I asked.

"She," the Decepticon corrected, "And she is Slipstream's... mmn, clone, and they're both still back on Cybertron."

"Whaaat?" I asked, confused and amazed, "Cybertronians can be **cloned**?! Like in 'Transformers Animated'?"

Starscream made a sort of half-scoff, half-'nyiehh-not-exactly' noise.

Then he explained, "No. Not that simply. The process of cloning Cybertronians is far more complex. The purpose is for the clone to have the best traits and skills of the original: special ability, intelligence, fighting style, strength, loyalty- *scoff*-.

Of course, any that actually come into being, typically end up only partially identical, and, most of the time, a malfunction."

I winced, just as I realized that ShortCircuit had done the same. I cocked an eyebrow, and she tilted her head with wide optics. I shrugged, and she nodded, and we both simultaneously went back to repairing Starscream's other wing.

Wow! We were really... connected? Working in tandem? In sync? Whatever. I guess that's a byproduct of having two person's minds connected for a long-ish time, huh? Anyway...

"Move away for a moment," Starscream told us. We did, and the partially-transformed jet shifted, and then painfully, haltingly, began transforming back to his bipedal form.

The still-jagged bits of metal, fewer than before thankfully, left painful looking scrapes in his armor. I noticed a bit of shuddering (but maybe it was my imagination), and faint, muffled noises of pain. Oowwwww, poor Starry.

When he looked down at ShortCircuit and I, his deep-scarlet optics were narrowed in pain and shuttering, twitching slightly. My look of sympathetic and grieved pain was met with a faint snarl from Starscream.

Ok, ok, I get it. No sympathy allowed. ...Yyeeah, sorry Starry; I ain't listening to this rule.

Well, might as well change the topic of discussion/ annoyed-facial-expression. "Um... how's a clone made, for a Cybertronian?" I asked Starscream.

In response to my question, he asked pointedly, "Would you like to explain to a tiny alien life-form how it is that humans try to artificially create unnaturally-made offspring?"

I started to speak, stopped, blinked, thought, grimaced, then gave up. "Shutting up now."

Starscream smirked, and then held out his hand near the ground for ShortCircuit and me. I looked up at the giant Decepticon, down at his hand, then up again, and hesitantly climbed on.

After a second or so, ShortCircuit did so also. (I think she temporarily forgot that she had to walk, instead of just chilling on my spine and letting me be the transportation.)

Then Starry placed us on his shoulder, where he instructed us to keep repairing his wings. As the injured sections were slowly repaired and put back together, I heard a low, thin sound.

It sounded like a motor, but really, _really_ quiet, almost like... no, could it be? **Purring**. And I could feel Starry's wings and shoulders vibrating slightly.

(It's true! Seekers purr! Hahaha!)

I held back a laugh of delight, but allowed a huge smile to remain on my face. It doubled into astonishment when, as ShortCircuit and I repaired a particularly shredded-looking gash, Starscream muttered a quick, "Thank you."

_Yo! Here be another Author's Note. Jaeger lets me put him on my lap to sleep, and he puts his soft little pink-padded paws upon me face. It's so cute!_

_Ok: Excuses for updating late-ish! I've been procrastinating. I been watching TV, and I've been reading the movie-Novel of "After Earth." (It is marvelous.) and the prequel, called, "A Perfect Beast." (And it is spectacularly brilliant and splendiferous! Except fer' the necessary-yet-boring political-y stuff.) Also watched "Lady In The Water" for the first time. It was great! I think the Scrunts (grass-wolves) are really cool. Plus, the reason I been watching movies on our TV, is to find good scenes to use in an Animorphs trailer or video._

_Also, as a random side-note, Starry facts! __**Starscream Optics**__: color = bright crimson. __**More specific color description**__ = like a large, thin-ish drop of fresh blood on clear glass, with the sun shining through it on an angle, maybe through some trees. __**Starscream Shape**__: big pointed wings, tall, and __**non-Dorito-y**__._

_That be all for now, persons! Thank you for reading, and I will try to update soon._


	78. Chapter 78

_Yo! Greetings and hola to you all.I am SORRY I took such an extremely long time to update. I've been having and enjoying many a lazy Summer day, and it has been __**glorious**__! (Dunno what's glorious about sitting plopped on a couch staring at a laptop with sad, awesome, and hilarious 'Lion King' vids and DeviantArts and sad, awesome, hilarious 'Pacific Rim' FanFics, but it's fun/relaxing.)_

_To __Cutie Kyuubi__: Yes! Clever you are! (Why, ask? Because you suggested part of the plot which is already going to happen! And that is clever.) S-S-six y-y-years? *starts twitching* Sorry, it's still Summer and thoughts of school bring doom to me brain. :P OHHH YES! You should DEFINITELY see it! I loved it. Well, I hope you like this chapter which I have mostly-planned._

_To __Starsong008__: *snickers* Yes, Screamer's getting fixed. *can't stop snickering* Ah, ok. Ooooh, yay robots! Cool, our Dad got a chibi for both FireFlare and I of the 'Gundam' things. ...Mine has no legs. *puts* They're just FEET! No legs! Oh woe is meee! (Ok, now that my absurdedly over-dramatic rant is over with...) Hm, I think there was a neat little prehistoric rodent-like creature called an Aegi... Yaayy giant robots! Yeah, I agree with the authors who say that Seekers are sort of like cats; it makes em' even more awesome. You a marvelous FanFic!_

_And now, **finally**, on to the chapter!_

ShortCircuit and had had just about finished up repairing Starscream's wings the best that we could. We were taking a short break, and I noticed a sound.

It was like a faint crinkle or uneven patter, like light rain but less steady. I carefully inched my way along Starscream's shoulder to see where the noise was coming from.

It was coming from the forest floor. As I watched, I spotted a thin trickle of light-indigo liquid dripping off of the Decepticon. The liquid looked orange-y colored as it fell through the air, then light-indigo again as it fell on the dead leaves.

It'd probably been drowned out by the noises of our repairing Starry's wings.

"You're bleeding," I stated, to which he responded, "So?"

I stuck out my tongue and rolled my eyes in exasperation, "Sooo, we should make the bleeding stop, silly Starry. Oh!"

Then I finally realized what the cloths had been for, that Blindside and Static had collected: to stop any bleeding. Silly me, I shoulda realized that sooner.

I moved to the edge of Starscream's shoulder, looked, and then suddenly remembered how very high up I was.

"Uhhh, S-Starry?" I asked nervous because of the height, "Could you help me get down to that big sheet we left on the ground? It has cloths and stuff to help stop the bleeding."

"You shouldn't keep relying on someone else to help you," the large Decepticon told me, picking me up off his shoulder in one hand and placing me on the ground.

Yikes! That was very alarming, to be picked up like that. It was ok sitting or standing on a giant hand, but being picked up by one? That's much more scary.

"Thank you Starry," I told him, a little shaky from my ride down to the forest floor. I picked up an old Darth Vader shirt, (one my Dad hadn't worn in many-a-month), and a couple more cloths. Then I looked back up at Starscream.

"Um," I bagan, "Should I- Well, you said not to keep needing your help, so, should I climb up your arm or something?"

The huge Decepticon shrugged one shoulder, the opposite of the one that ShortCircuit was on. So I scrutinized the giant metal arm before me, and started to climb up.

It actually wasn't as hard as I'd thought! The armor plating on the complex metal arm's exterior provided some reasonably good handholds and footholds.

It was made a bit difficult by the stuff I was carrying, so I held the cloths in my mouth. I would have put them on top of my back like a horse, but then they would've fallen off.

So, I scrambled my way up to the top of the Decepticon's shoulder, and ShortCircuit helped me up. Then I gave her half of the cloth-objects, and we started patching up Starscream.

It wasn't just the wings that were damaged though. Once we finished those, he told us, he would have to transform back to jet-mode so we could fix up his cockpit, roof, etc.

As I placed an old shirt atop one of the wounds, some of the light-indigo energon seeped up through it with a hissing of slight smoke, and touched my right hand.

I yanked my hand back, having read FanFictions or watched a show or something in which energon could burn a human.

I stared at my palm warily, watching intensely just in case it started sizzling or melting or mutating (which might'e actually been kinda cool).

It didn't, but it did tingle a lot. Sort of like... holding a frozen ice cube in your hand, with water trickling over it, and having your hand tickled at the same time.

Still, just in case there might be some sort of weird long-term effects, I wiped it off on my sweatshirt, which I kept tied around my waist. I would've put it on, but I was still feeling fine with the cold air.

After a few more moment of putting cloths on Starscream's injuries, there were a fewmore times when energon blood had seeped through and periodically come into contact with my skin.

I knew that saliva clotted blood, so maybe it'd stop my hands from, as I'd said before, melting or something. Just in case. So... I licked my hand.

(_What? I'm kind of INSANE just in case you haven't noticed. So this sort of bizarre action is to be expected._)

I stuck out my tongue and wrinkled my nose in expectation of a bad taste. But actually, not too bad. The stuff was warm, but tasted like... well, the only thing I can compare it to, would be a strawberry that you bite into right after it's been in a refrigerator. Kind of tongue-explode-y.

I decided not to do that again, and cleaned off my tongue on my shirt. Then I glanced up to see Starscream, his head angled towards me and grinning at how very silly and weird I am. I huffed and looked away, and he started laughing.

(So on my way back down his arm, I kicked him. It probably felt like a puny tap to the giant Cybertronian, but still.)

As I reached to pick up the last few old shirts and cloths, something moved. I jumped back in surprise, then leaned in close, thinking that maybe it was a mouse. Cute little mousy?

Whatever it was, it didn't move again, so I slowly pulled off the sheet that was on top of it. Inside...was... a...! (*_suspenseful music_*)

Plastic purple moth/butterfly. ...What?

"What in the universe?" I muttered, shaking my head slightly. (I stopped saying "What in the world" or "what on earth" a long time ago.)

I picked it up carefully by one wing, which was pink with colorful designs on it. I turned it over in my hands and examined it. This thing looked vaguely familiar.

"What are you doing?" Starscream asked, part-curious, part-impatient at the delay.

"Looking at this thing," I told him, holding it up.

Starscream leaned down to see it more closely, and ShortCircuit hopped down off of his shoulder to get a better look herself.

She cocked her head at it, then reached forward one hand, looking at me as if for approval. I shrugged and held out the big plastic insect to her.

The relatively small Decepticon leaned her head to one side, and then slowly poked one of the toy's purple legs with one finger, and it folded onto the toy's stomach. ShortCircuit pushed one little plastic insect-leg at a time, and they all folded up!

Starscream cocked his head slightly, and gave a small chuckle, "Heh."

I grinned at ShortCircuit, and then we both set to fiddling with the moth/butterfly. I think Starscream started laughing at us, but I didn't really pay attention

I shifted the wings a bit, and fiddled around near the head, and then laughed in surprise and delight at the confirmation of ShortCircuit's guess/hunch: it was a mini-Transformer!

When we couldn't figure out how to transform it any further, ShortCircuit looked at me and shrugged.

I shrugged back, and then poked the little thing gently and told it, "Hi. It's ok to move, you know. I know little mini-Transformers are alive." It twitched in a way that seemed almost huffy. Or stubborn.

So ShortCircuit talked at it in Cybertronian language, really loudly. But as I have mentioned before, ShortCircuit yelling at the top of her voice still sounds like quiet-ish talking.

Finally, the little purple-and-pink butterfly/moth shifted around and then re-transformed back into its insect form.

Starscream chuckled a bit, then asked it, "What are you doing here?" "Insecticon scout!" it yelled back at him, (the way someone might say 'That's something-or-other **SIR** to YOU!').

I winced slightly and rubbed my ear. OW, that little thing was loud! Then I shook my head and asked, "Uh, ok, why are you here, 'insecticon-scout'?"

It flapped its ever-so-pink wings defiantly and yelled at me, "I flew here all alone! All by myself! I was alone, flying! And I saw that human-" –it spoke as if I weren't there- "-flying. So, all on my own, I hid in that sheet the human was carrying! And I hid in it- all alone!"

The repeated insisting of being all-alone caused one human and two Cybertronians to cock their eyebrow/optic-ridges skeptically.

"MMM-m," Starscream agreed sarcastically, "_Ye_-es, you're _very_ convincing. Are you _quite_ certain that you were all alone?"

"YES!" the mini Insecticon shouted, almost before Starscream finished talking.

The giant Decepticon nodded, then informed the tiny purple mini-TF bluntly, "You're a pathetic liar."

"He-eyyy!" I interjected as the mini-Insecticon shrieked insults at the gigantic jet-Decepticon, "Don't be proud about being good at lying! Lying ain't right."

"You can lecture me later, puny human," Starscream informed me, as the mini Insecticon continued yelling, "I'm not lying! I'm not lying! I came here all alone! **You're** lying!"

"About **what**?" I laughed.

"Me lying!" it answered.

"So you _are_ lying?" I asked, trying not to grin.

"NO I AM NOT!" it screamed.

"Yes, of course. You see, there's just one problem," Starscream told him slowly and clearly, nodding like talking to a crazy person, "We don't believe you." He gestured towards the sheet that the mini-TF had been hiding in, and I walked over to it.

Meanwhile the mini just kept shrieking: "NONONONONO!" He didn't actually/even try to get away or stop me, he just yelled a lot, as if that would actually do something.

ShortCircuit reached out her hands pityingly and held the crazy insect for me, and I thanked her. My ears needed a break.

As I reached down and started lifting up the sheet, which still had a couple things on it, something moved. I twitched in instinctive surprise and pulled my hand back.

And several small toy-sized things went zipping away into the grass!


	79. Chapter 79

_Hiiiii! I am so very sorry for not updating earlier; my family and I have been away visiting a relative for a couple days, and several of our fish have died. Plus, I watched the movie "EPIC" over 6 times and I'm now kind of obsessed with it. So again, I apologize for the long wait._

_To __Blackhooves__: Haha, I guess. Or they're just random ideas that pop into my brain. Oh yay, thank you so very muchly! (And are you talking like me? 'Very much indeed.' Ha.) Thank you, I hope to keep working on improving. Again, thank you so very much. Good idea, my grammar and spelling were lousy in the last chapter: Sorry 'bout that. And thanks for the advice!_

_To __Cutie Kyuubi__: *shrugs* I've never enjoyed school; I can't stand all the homework and the too many new things to learn and shove into my brain. But if you enjoy it, (a feat that I find remarkable and difficult), I commend you on that. Umm, I think you mentioned the mini TFs, and then I had the mini TF moth/butterfly coming up in the next chapter. Yay!_

_To __Starsong008__: Hahaha, just maybe! Mini-Insecticons are very tricky little things. Ooh, neat! Oh, that's cool- the profile picture looks awesome. But ehhhh, sorry, I don't know anything about the series or characters, just that there are big robots. *shrugs* Huh, yeah, a lack of feet is very odd indeed. Oh yikes, I HATE homework! Poor you! :( *sends a ton of sympathy* Ok, I will try, and thank you very much._

_To __Autobot SoShi__: Heh heh heh, yeah. Pink isn't a very intimidating color, especially for a little itty bitty butterfly/moth TF. Haha, you'd be surprised- Insecticons sneak around quite well. Awwww yay! Thank you and I'm so glad my stories make you happy!_

_So, finally, on with the chapter!_

As the small things zipped away into the grass, I managed to snatch one up in my hands. It looked like a plastic, green praying mantis with shiny silver claw-thingies.

"AAA! AAA! Leggo!" it yelled, hitting my fingers with the claw-thingies. "No," I stated bluntly, "Now will you please calm down, buggy?"

In reply, it actually yelled "Grr!" at me. Meanwhile, the butterfly/moth was yelling "Let go let go let go!" while still held in ShortCircuit's hands.

I heard a snicker from Starscream as he mockingly congratulated me, "Excellent work, human! You've managed to catch a puny little toy, afraid of its own shadow."

The mini-mantis froze, then started spasming in my hand, shrieking, "I'm not scared! I'm not puny! We all came to help, you ungrateful giant thing!"

I pitied the little mini-TF; even _I_ could've probably come up with something better to say! But Starscream was grinning, "'All,' you say? How many exactly?"

The moth TF wriggled out of ShortCircuit's hands, fluttered over, and whapped the mantis on the head with one pink wing, scolding, "You nincompoop! Why'd you say that?!"

I heard another tiny voice yelling "Don't be so bossy!" and I looked down in time to see a yellow-and-read striped ant or hornet mini-TF throw a small stick at the moth.

A light tan mini-TF Insecticon, resembling a mosquito, tackled the hornet/ant from the side, yelling, "Shut up!" at it.

I sighed in mixed astonishment and weariness, watching the mini Insecticons squabble. I wished I'd brought a butterfly net.

"So," I tried to interrupt the minis' arguing, "What was hat earlier, about helping?"

"SILENCE!" they all yelled, and continued squabbling. They didn't even notice that I'd already released the mini mantis, who now sat on my hand yelling along with the others.

These little guys were weird, but kind of funny. I wondered if that was how the big Cybertronians thought of humans...

After a couple more minutes, the mini Insecticons were still arguing. After another two attempts to get them to stop it, ShortCircuit and I had given up, she had reattached to my spine, and we had gone back to repairing Starscream.

Now we were hovering behind him, repairing one wing-tip more fully. And Starscream was muttering to himself in a different language.

From the few words that ShortCircuit and I overheard and that she understood, it seemed that the huge 'Con was miffedly comparing the mini-Insecticons to some real Decepticons he'd encountered: annoying and in need of an 'off'-switch.

"How long have these little pests been doing that?" asked a slightly familiar voice.

ShortCircuit and I jumped in midair, (Maximum Ride is right- that's very hard to do), and looked around. We couldn't see anyone new here.

The mini-Insecticons all shrieked, yelped, and/or shouted in surprise, then ran into a bush to hide. Amazing. After all this, they'd _finally_ stopped arguing!

"Uhh, where are you?" I called nervously. I felt ShortCircuit sensing an energy signature, then concentrating, and she mentally pointed over to the left.

We flew over and I inspected the trees and leafless bushes carefully, but couldn't find anything or anyone. It wasn't as if there were many good hiding places

ShortCircuit reported that the energy-signature was very nearby, just a few yards away. It was identified with any faction, which rang a bell.

"That sounds... familiar..." I muttered, trying to remember.

Starscream laughed loudly, "It's Tarnish, you silly human!"

And with that, he tossed a mid-sized stick at a tree that was a couple yards in front of us. The stick passed _right through_ the tree, made a 'twang' noise, and bounced away at an odd angle.

"What was that for," the familiar voice stated rather than asked, sounding calmly irritated, and the tree- a hologram!- vanished! In its place was the Decepticon from before: Tarnish!

"How did you know I was here?" he asked Starscream, not sounding at all surprised or even confused.

The larger Decepticon scoffed, "Well, I noticed a slowly moving tree, which vanished and was replaced by a slowly moving log, which was replaced with a different slowly moving tree, which was also replaced."

He smirked at the smaller 'Con, who didn't look annoyed for being seen, or impressed at Starscream's being able to see him. He just looked... calculating.

"You would've done better with a hologram of some large Earth-creature, like a deer," Starscream scoffed, shaking his head.

"Nooo, then _I_ would'a noticed," I admitted. Starscream looked at me blankly, looking slightly confused or concerned, and asked, "You'd notice an ordinary animal, but not several large, moving and vanishing objects?"

I shrugged, "Yeah. I'm just weird like that."

"HAH!" we all heard a small voice yell in derision, "You've got THAT right!" It came from the pink-and-purple moth, who was perched in the safety of a large bush.

"Quiet!" scolded the mantis, and hit the moth's bright pink wing. "Shouting 'quiet' isn't very quiet," the mosquito scolded. "Well neither is yelling 'shut up,'" the hornet/ant complained, referring to what'd happened before they'd started their squabbling earlier.

And within seconds they were all arguing again.

Tarnish shook his head and stated in slight annoyance, "I'm glad there are not _more_ of these Ferals here."

"'Ferals'?" I asked, just as a small voice called, "There are!"

Suppressing a groan, I looked down, and my eyes widened in shock.

There was a blue-and-white little race-car mini-TF and a mostly red mini-TF who looked sort of like a van of some kind. A tiny green-and-grey bird mini-TF fluttered out of the brush and landed on the blue-and-white TF's shoulder.

"Laserbeeaak," a slightly scratchy and high pitched voice complained with a slight whine, and a grey, blue, and red mini-TF with wings ran out from hiding. He was about twice the size of the others.

G1 Mirage, G1 Ironhide, G1 Laserbeak, and G1 Starscream!

I threw my arms skywards in disbelief, ""And the plot thickens! Whaaatever _that_ means!"

_Hiii. Sorry this chapter isn't as long as the others. ...Yeah, I don't really have much of an excuse this time. :P Sorry!_


	80. Chapter 80

_Hola and many a' greetings to you all!_

_To __Blackhooves__: Yay, thank you ever so muchly much! Thank you very much; I'm trying to improve, and I thank you very very much for politely and nicely pointing out what I need to work on. Oh yes, yes, yes, your stories are great!_

_To __AutobotSoShi__: Hahaha, thank you. And ooh, I like soup. Is the soup there good? :)_

_To __Starsong008__: Heh heh, yup; Starscreams are awesome. *gasp* Yay, good for you! And good for Hotshot! (Which Universe? 'Armada'?) ...Like I said before, sorry, but I know almost nothing about the show, but, since I see that you're unhappy about the character dying, poor him! Oh, that'll be fun- do you have a Thundercracker or Skywarp? If not, maybe the 3 Starscreams can be a Trine. Dinobots? WAHOO!_

_To __Cutie Kyuubi__: Neat- Ironhide is just full of awesomeness. Yeah; for the first part of G1, nobody ever died!_

_To __Phantom Kitty Cat__/ __Transformers Freak 22__: *gasp* HIIIIIII! Aaaah, why do you change it? Ohhh, nonono, no worries, I don't mind. Yippeee, thank you so muchly much indeed! _

_Ok now, on with the chappy-ter! _

ShortCircuit sighed in response to my outburst about the plot, "You is weird, Seekjei."

I cocked my head and observed lightly, joking, "I notice you've narrowed that statement down from all humans, to just me."

I saw some of the minis cocking their heads in confusion, so I started to explain that I had a small Decepticon attached to my spine in the form of a pair of wings.

But before I could even get half-way through explaining, mini-Mirage told me, "We know." ...Whaaaaat?

"Wha-? _How?_" I asked, utterly befuddled.

"We've been living in your attic," mini-Ironhide told me, as if this was completely normal. Which, nowadays, isn't actually the strangest thing that's happened anymore.

Still, it sounded weird. So I stared at the mini Autobot and asked in disbelief, "Have you been watching 'Invader Zim' episodes? 'Cause that sounded a lot like "Day of da Spookies," with Skooge. (Poor abused Skooge.)"

Mini Ironhide shook his head and shuddered, "ONE! One single, _stinking_ episode of that absurd TV show! And something about tacks and poems and hotdogs, ugh!"

"Heh heh," the mini Starscream chuckled, sounding much like Zim himself for a moment, "That show is amusing."

I grinned at him, "You've got a twisted sense of humor, buddy. ...I like it."

"Yeah, well," Mirage chuckled, "Lazerbeak here can't stand it! Silly bird insisted on finding out every bit of information he could about humans, which included watching that show. Poor guy."

The tiny, avian-shaped mini-TF shuddered, perching on mini Mirage's shoulder.

Mini Starscream snickered, "Your own fault for being greedy, Lazerbeak! There _is_ such a thing as 'too much information,' you know."

The real Starscream faintly grimaced and muttered, "Ugh, I'd almost forgotten how those humans decided my voice should sound in that first series."

"He-eyy!" Mini Screamy complained, looking insulted and crossing his arms, and still sounding like the G1 version of Starscream that he was modeled after.

"I thought it sounded funny," I told him and big-Starry encouragingly. I then quickly amended my statement when both of them scowled at me, "Funny in a good way! No offense! I liked it!"

"Well. I. Didn't," big Starry informed me testily. Mini-Starry scoffed in annoyance at him and griped, "At least I don't sound like that newest series! In that one I sound like... like..."

"Like a really sleazy weasel-human with severe laryngitis?" I supplied, and the little mini-Starry nodded.

(_This was quite a while ago, when I was still mad about what happened to Cliffjumper. I've since decided that I find TFPrime Screamer to be an interesting character and redeemable. __Screamer__: HaHA! __Me__: Silence! *whacks him over the head*_)

"Ok! So, back to the matter at hand," I continued, "What in the Universe-" –I saw mini-Ironhide grin at my word choice- "-are you all doing here?" I gestured to the four G1-ers, and to the Insecticons- who'd finally quit arguing- peeking out from their bush.

I then continued in still-unanswered befuddlement, "And what is a 'Feral'?"

Mini-Ironhide looked at mini-Starscream triumphantly, "See? I **told** you the others wouldn't tell anyone!"

Mini-Laserbeak nodded his little head. "Laserbeak!" Mini-Screamer yelled, half-horrified/ dismayed whine, half annoyed scold, "Don't agree with the enemy!"

"Enemies?" Mini-Mirage scoffed, "We've been stuck together for who-knows-how-long! Besides, no reason to be enemies anyhow. _We're_ not fighting a war."

"War brings only death, destruction, and chopped-off limbs!" I declared emphatically, and then added, throwing my arms in the air, "And WHAT in all **dimensions** and **universes** is a 'Feral'?!"

"We'll never tell!" one of the mini-Insecticons, the mosquito, declared vehemently, just as ShortCircuit took pity on me and explained quickly, "Ferals is 'toys' who do leave humans."

I thanked her mentally and then rolled my eyes at the mini-Insecticon, grinning, "Too late, little guy. ShortCircuit just told me."

"MNAAAHH!" the little mini-TF yelled absurdedly in frustration, and suddenly Tarnish was crouched directly in front of him, face a couple of inches away. The mini-Insecticon yelped and tried to jump away, but the Decepticon held him down by the mini's feet.

Everyone froze, and our eyes and optics widened. I felt my breathing stop- Tarnish had moved so fast, deadly.

"Stop acting in this way," Tarnish ordered the tiny Insecticon quietly, slowly, but his softly spoken words were amazingly firm, "Overreacting will gain you nothing, scout."

The little mosquito-Insecticon didn't reply. I was behind Tarnish and could see him crouching there like a small lion, and I could see the mini-TF's tiny optics widened to larger than I'd thought was possible.

Then the little mini-TF nodded shakily, and I thought I heard him stammer quietly, "Y-yes sir." Tarnish nodded back, then slowly released the mosquito-mini and crept silently back. The mini-TF inched back, and then went to hide back in the bush.

No one spoke. Tarnish stood, turned to look around at us.

"I hope I did not interrupt anything," he told us, politely, but with amusement hidden in his voice. Then he strolled away a couple yards, turned to smirk slightly at us all, and promptly vanished inside a tree-hologram that appeared around him.

Everyone looked at one another, eyes and optics wide. "That was creepy," one of the other Insecticons whispered loudly.

"Uh-" I stated, stuttering, knowing Tarnish was still a few feet away, listening, "Uh- yes. It... was, sort of."

"That _was_ interesting, Decepticon," Starscream agreed, speaking to and looking towards Tarnish, concealed in the tree-hologram.

ShortCircuit hissed faintly- that'd been a taunt, a jab somehow. Taking ShortCircuit's side, I narrowed my eyes at Starscream.

"ANYwayyy..." I stated, trying to sound irritatedly stern at Starscream for ShortCircuit's sake, then brightening, "Let's talk about something else, huh?"

"Like what?" the moth Insecticon asked. "How about your names, for one thing?" I asked, gesturing to the mini-Insecticons, "What are yer' names?"

"We'll ne-!" one of them, the Mantis started to yell, then quickly stopped and looked nervously towards where the mosquito-mini was still hiding, and at the tree-hologram where Tarnish still observed, hidden.

"That's ok!" I told the mini-Insecticons quickly, trying to soothe them, "That's ok. Maybe we could make up some nice names to call you. Would you be ok with that?"

They glanced at one another, and the mosquito-TF edged out of his hiding place. The mini-Insecticons nodded, and the moth, who seemed to be kinda their leader, shrugged, "Eh, ok."

"Ok," I told them, then picked the red-striped yellow hornet/ant, "Ummm, ok. You look kind of like a hornet or an ant, sooo... Ar-nant?"

The little one considered for a moment, then nodded. "It sounds silly!" the Mantis teased. I growled at him, ShortCircuit hissed, and the hornet/ant, I mean Arnant, whacked him with one of his arms.

"Well what name would _you_ like?" I asked the Mantis, slightly indignant. He looked away and huffed.

"How about you?" I asked the purple-and-pink moth. He shrugged.

"Mothra," came Tarnish's voice, and we jumped (I actually squeaked, too), and turned to look. The tree-hologram had vanished and Tarnish stood there, impassive.

"That sounds good!" the Moth TF agreed excitedly, nodding. A faint smile twitched on Tarnish's face, his amber optics gleaming brightly.

"And how about 'Needle' for the mosquito?" mini-Starscream suggested, half-jokingly. I smiled encouragingly at the little mosquito, who looked a little less nervous. He nodded, then grinned, "Yeah. It fits." He wiggled his long insect-legs happily.

"And you?" I asked the Mantis, who'd slowly stopped his sulking. "Swivel," he stated.

"Cool!" I cheered, "So Arnant, Mothra, Needle, and Swivel. Yay!"

Starscream chuckled, "You humans get excited about the most trivial of things." "It is not trivial," I informed the huge 'Con, then kicked his leg.

It had been a very good day indeed.

_Next chapter ya get to see why the Ferals are here!_


	81. Chapter 81

_Hellooo! I'm sorry for not updating sooner, but I had a really long and difficult chapter to do in my other TF story. And I let myself get distracted by TV._

_To __Phantom Kitty Cat__: Thank you muchly much! Thank you again! Ahh, fresh starts are good. How come there's trouble? What?! You are GREAT at writing! Ok, I see, it's just confusing sometimes with different people having changed user-names._

_To __Cutie Kyuubi__: *winces* Ah, yeah in the G1 movie. Our Dad showed me and I hated the few seconds I saw: just boom-boom-boom, bunch a' characters dead all of a sudden, very depressing. Ok then, I'd meant that in the first part of G1 nobody died._

_Thank you for your reviews, I appreciate them! Oh, also, I've re-read my chapter 74, and I made a mistake: Mirage in G1 goes invisible, and_ _Hound is the one who makes holograms, I think. And now on with the chapter._

"So," I asked the mini-TFs as I leaned against a tree, resting, "Why're you guys out here?"

"Because we're _Ferals_," mini-Ironhide told me, as if it were obvious, "Thought you said the 'Con femme told you?"

I shrugged, glancing over to where ShortCircuit was examining a broken tree-branch. I answered the mini-TF, "Well, she told me that Ferals are mini Transformers who leave the humans who got them."

"Didn't quite tell the whole truth, did she?" mini Starscream piped up from where he was sitting on a rock after a short flight, looking smug. Little mini-Ironhide glared up at him. (It was weird seeing a mini-Starscream who was taller than the other minis.)

"Hey, it's alright," the miniature Mirage soothed, "The femme probably didn't want her to feel bad." He'd been tossing around tiny twigs for mini-Laserbeak to catch.

"Feel bad about what?" I asked, drawing my eyebrows together and frowning. What weren't they telling me? I looked over at ShortCircuit questioningly, and she looked both apologetic and nervous.

Tarnish, who'd been acting as the self-appointed look-out on top of Starry's head, looked down at me. Starry himself, who'd been resting against a particularly thick and strong tree, opened one optic, probably out of boredom.

ShortCircuit scurried up a pine-tree, as if to hide from me in case I got mad. Actually, I wasn't focusing on the lack-of-info, but on the climbing! Frenzy was ShortCircuit's brother, and he wasn't very good at climbing trees, at least not that I'd seen.

So I mentioned this. "How come you can climb so well, but Frenzy can't?" I asked her, cocking my head. I saw ShortCircuit opening and closing her mouth, but couldn't hear anything.

"Sorry," I apologized, "I forgot I can't really hear you if you're not on my back." ShortCircuit nodded, and climbed cautiously down to a lower branch, where she stopped to sit.

She was nearly as good as a squirrel!

"So again," I asked, turning my attention back to the Minis, "Why are you guys here?"

"Because humans are s_tupid_," pouted one of the mini Insecticons. At an indignant look from me, he amended, "Well, some humans." I chuckled in agreement, then asked for a more explanatory explanation.

"Ferals like us are ones who've been..." Mini-Ironhide began, trailing off as he searched for some word.

"'Outgrown'?" mini-Starscream mocked, a bitter sneer in his voice as he put air-quotes around it, "I believe that was the _gentle_ term that was decided upon?"

My eyes widened in alarm, "W-what d'you mean?" "Thrown out!" the Mantis Insecticon yelled, standing up with his fists pointed down, looking offended. (Sorta like O~O)

"Whuh-...?!" I exclaimed miserably, my voice squeaking, "W-w-why?!" My voice turned indignant, "Who did that?! I-I'll shoot them with a Nerf gun!"

The mini-Insecticons all looked at one another and grinned evilly, the sort of grins that evil minions make when they're listening to a plan of how to trap a good-guy. (That sort of smirk-y face and rubbing-the-hands-together look.)

I frowned, not understanding why they'd be looking like this. Mini-Mirage looked as though he were about to tell me the answer, gently, but mini-Starscream beat him to it with harsh bluntness, if that's even a word.

"It was your dad."

... Shocked silence on my part for a moment. Then I grinned, and made my face look mock-severe, "**Seekjei, **_**III**_** ahm your fah-ther!**"

Mini-Ironhide burst out laughing so hard that he doubled over. Apparently, he likes Star Wars. Mini-Mirage grinned, and Mini-Starscream scowled slightly at the fact that I didn't seem upset. Mini-Laserbeak simply returned with his fetched twig.

I chuckled and looked towards the Mini-Insecticons, who looked more miffed than Mini-Starscream. I reassured them, "Don'chu worry, guys. I'm not backing down from what I said about the Nerf-gun."

The looks on their faces were just too thrilled to describe. It was adorable.

"Tell the others!" the mosquito suggested excitedly, and I nodded. (Apparently there were a couple other 'outgrown' mini-TFs who'd chosen to stay hiding at our house, mainly in the attic.)

"Seekjei," Tarnish abruptly called, "I believe it is nearly the time at which you normally return to your house?"

Was it? And was that a question or statement? "Uhh, I don't know," I told him, "It looks afternoon-ish enough. Oh goodness you're right I have to get home!"

I panicked, suddenly frantic to get home before my family noticed I wasn't at the bus-stop. ShortCircuit trilled and scampered down the tree, nodding her thanks to Tarnish.

"Oh wait," I thought aloud as I crouched down and ShortCircuit re-attached to my spine, "Tarnish, do you and the minis- um, scouts, wanna follow us back home?"

"NO!" the mini Insecticons yelled, and began all babbling angrily at the same time. I caught only a few words- "Boring there!" "Always hiding," "Too many Autobots," "Smelly humans!", etc.

"We're staying here too," Mini-Mirage told me, and Mini-Ironhide nodded, "At least for a while. Good change of scenery." "Mm, and far more room to fly," Mini-Starscream actually agreed, his optics closed and a content smile on his little face.

"I will remain here," Tarnish informed me, looking at all the mini-TFs, as if to silently add '_Some_one has to keep order around here!'

"Well..." I spoke, a little surprised that nobody's be coming back with us, "Uh, ok. Maybe you could come back later."

"I will decide what it is that I shall or shall not do," Tarnish responded, a faint edge in his voice, as though to remind the silly human (me) that she wasn't the boss of anyone.

"Ok," I replied meekly, "We'll be going now. And thank you for your help. Tarnish." The bronze-armored Cybertronian nodded, and went back to his self-appointed look-out job.

"Wait, how'd you come up with the name for Mothra earlier?" I suddenly asked.

The Decepticon turned to look at me, "I looked up monster-movies on the internet." There was a faint grin on his face, and I chuckled.

ShortCircuit and I hurried back home, after gathering up the leftover supplies. We comlink-messaged Blindside, who assured us that there were no other big Decepticons around to chase us or harm Starscream.

The school bus with Freefel on it had nearly gotten to the bus-stop when ShortCircuit and I reached it. With the bus almost about to come into sight around a corner, we had to make a quick landing.

A crash-landing, to be precise. With the huge yellow vehicle approaching, we didn't have time to land neatly and hide out of sight. So we half-fell into a tree.

Freefel walked by, looking lonely and worried that her elder sister had been mysteriously missing all day after being called to the office (wow, I'd almost forgotten how it was that I'd gotten out of school).

"Freefel!" I whisper-yelled in a hiss. My sister's head whipped around in surprise. "Up here," I wheezed, still up in the tree, "... I think I'm stuck."

She walked toward my voice and stared in a mix of bafflement and disbelief. My lower right leg was half-supporting my weight- grating against the edge of a thick tree-limb, while my left leg hung limply behind it, unable to reach any footholds.

My right hand was tightly clutching a higher, thinner branch, and the bundled-up sheet of supplies dangled from my clenched left hand. Said-hand's arm was painfully bent over the top of another rough-barked branch, holding me up.

I dropped the sheet of supplies down to Freefel, who caught it. ShortCircuit detached from my back and clambered- carefully- up onto a higher branch, thus making it much easier to climb down.

Once safely, though sorely, on the ground, she reattached and I told Freefel about the adventure we'd had with Starscream and Tarnish, and the Ferals. She was shocked to know that our dad had done such a thing, and vowed to aid me in my **Nerf-y Vengeance**.

Thus, when our Dad got home from work, he was besieged by Nerf dart-guns! Since I have always had terrible aim, it was mostly Freefel's darts that hit, but I got in a few pretty good shots too.

On into the evening, it became a Nerf-dart mini-war, since our dad managed to take our dart-guns while we ate dinner. We enjoyed the whole thing, never letting him know that it was revenge for estranged the mini-TFs.

Hey, no one said revenge always had to be serious!


	82. Chapter 82

_Hiii all you awesome reviewers! Thank you so much for the reviews! Also, I dedicate this chapter to the oldest of our fish, a female named Thee, who died of old age Friday morning._

_To __Kitcat from the sky__: Ha, revenge for what exactly? Whoa, cool! You made up a language of cats, that's so awesome! Ooh, d'you think you could teach me and my sis? 8D Hahahahaha, cooooll! That sounds like so much fun!_

_To __AutobotSoShi__: Yes, Nerf gun wars are so much fun! Wha-? My story, or Nerf-gun-wars? If you mean my Fic, then I'm honored if you think it's that good! If ya meant Nerf, I agree! Mini-Ironhide appreciates yer love of him. :)_

_To __Cutie Kyuubi__: I completely agree- I stopped watching when the first characters got killed :( Aww, yeah- Ratchet is cool with wrenches o' doom, and Wheeljack is so awesome with making exploding inventions!_

_To __Starsong008__: No worries, it's ok! Aww, thank you so very much! Heh heh, probably the same as ours; they sneak away and leave or hide if they suspect that their human has 'outgrown' them. Hm, I'll see if I can convince them- they're all a tight-knit group (even Mini-Starscream, though he's too arrogant to admit it). Oh, cool! Maybe they could visit our Feral Minis, or vice versa! I shall, and thank you!_

_And now, the chapter._

After the Nerf war, Freefel and I were way too hyper and excited to sleep. ShortCircuit, Blindside, and Static were excited too- they'd observed the epic battle from various hiding spots.

Blindside had simply stayed inside/behind one of the couches and listened to the crazy Nerf war happening. Static had been more of a risk-taker and darted around to different hiding places- under a table, behind some furniture, and once _on the ceiling!_- once our Dad had gone out of sight.

ShortCircuit had stayed on my spine the entire time, so she was actually **part** of the craziness. She'd pointed out where some discarded darts were, and got shot a couple times by some- not that it hurt her, thank goodness, but she'd yelped in surprise and demanded I get my dad for that.

A Retelling of the Epic War of Nerfy Vengeance, for any future Decepticons (and any Autobots, and Mini TFs) who take refuge in our house.

{"Attaaaack!" Freefel and I chorused, leaping down the stairs to pelt our father with Nerf darts as he entered the front door, carrying bags of groceries.

"What?!" our Dad exclaimed, just as three purple suction-cup darts nailed him. (Freefel and I both fired two, but one of mine missed.)

Being a seasoned Nerf-wars veteran, our father took decisive action by quickly hiding behind the door, laughing. I made some random hand-motions to Freefel, like the guys in secret missions do, whispering in explanation, "just keep shooting."

She did, and I zipped behind the door-shield and snatched up two grocery bags. I shoved one into Freefel's hands, and we raced away, cackling. We purposely left our Nerf-guns there as we zipped away with our prizes (which we really didn't care for; we just wanted him to chase us).

Moments after we stashed the random groceries in a closet, our Dad came running after us, carrying our discarded dart-guns. But we had more!

My sister and I had stockpiled the rest of the Nerf-armament, and we reveled in our Dad's startled expression as we fired them at him. I refilled our ammo as Freefel continued firing gleefully, having much better aim than me.

Our dad retreated, scooping up a handful of discarded darts and running off. After he didn't return for a few minutes, we set off to find him, wielding of weapons of foam darts.

ShortCircuit was having the time of her life, urging hysterically, "Get him, get him!" She could be quite bloodthirsty, I noticed with pleased surprise. Of course, this was way more fun than an actual life-or-death war, with no actual blood or gore.

I chuckled, then heard Freefel's startled shriek, followed by laughing. I raced into another room and found our Dad tickling her like crazy.

As I ran to her 'rescue,' I got pelted by our Dad's Nerf-darts, and fell over dramatically, making absurd "AAa, ough, gaah, eeeeiiiigh" noises in response to my 'wounds.' Then I jumped up again, yelling "Yaaaa!" and tackling our Dad.

Freefel wrestled away and joined me, both of us ganging up on him, tickling and throwing soft objects at him until we were all exhausted, and we lay in a floppy, giggling heap.

When Freefel and I returned to our room to retrieve the groceries and return them, we got a pillow to the face, courtesy of Static, who wanted to play.}

Thus ends the retelling of the Epic War of Nerfy Vengeance.

Now it was night-time, and Freefel, the Decepticons, and I decided to go outside. Blindside came along, explaining that he wanted to practice his flying. Since the previous design hadn't worked out, he'd reconfigured his jet-pack mode.

His new jet-pack mode was a longer, more stretched out looking version of the original. Also, the new version's rocket-engine things could rotate and tilt, and the straps could turn into landing gear mini-stilt things.

The sightless Cybertronian had also been working on something a bit more complex; He'd pretty much duplicated ShortCircuit's nerve-wires. On himself.

So now Blindside would be able to do what ShortCircuit had done when I first met her- attaching to someone else's head/brain.

I'm used to the whole brain-wire thing from ShortCircuit, but now I realize how disturbing that previous sentence sounds. But Blindside explained the reasoning behind his new modification- it was for the same reason he'd altered his alt-mode, to improve his flying.

Having a navigator who could _see_ would be helpful in the sky, where Blindside's exceptional senses of smell and touch would not work as well.

Normally (I can't believe that word still exists in my vocabulary) ShortCircuit would've been super-interested, but, apparently, she already knew of Blindside's modifications. Of course, silly me, her nerve-wires were what Blindside's were based off of.

They'd started working on it when I'd had midterms, ShortCircuit mentioned to me, and she had stayed home. Blindside now asked if Freefel would try being his navigator, and she agreed- but not to the wires.

At least not yet, she compromised. The idea kind of freaked her out. I hadn't had a choice in the matter when I'd met first met –and been whacked unconscious by- ShortCircuit all those weeks ago, but I was fine with it now.

While Blindside practiced taking off and landing, strapped to Freefel's back, ShortCircuit and I tried comlinking Starscream. ShortCircuit's comlink-range was too small and Starry had shrunken his (to hide his energy-signature), so they wouldn't connect.

Static comlinked him for us, and relayed to us what he'd told her. Starry'd replied that his wings were still healing, so he'd have to stay there a little longer. Oh, and that the Ferals were all still annoying.

Freefel asked to go back inside- and I could hear the slight panic in her voice. She still wasn't fully ok with heights, after Starry had dropped us in a tree. Blindside was happy with the flight data he'd gotten, and came inside with us without even looking nervous or timid!

Static stayed outside to run around the yard a little longer, so ShortCircuit and I kept watch atop the roof. I nearly fell asleep, despite the chilliness. The super-hyper-ness had completely worn off, and I reeeallly needed sleep.

Finally, Static finished her high-speed energy-burning, and ShortCircuit and I helped her up onto the roof and back inside. Blindside went to hide and rest in our closet, and Static crept upstairs to chat with the Mini-TFs and the Ferals who still hid.

(We'd told the Mini-TFs about the incident with Starry, Tarnish, and the Ferals. Mini-TFs **love** exciting stories. )

ShortCircuit stayed on my spine and went into recharge quickly. We'd all had a long dday. Would we get a full night of rest?

Apparently not, because I was woken up at around 2:40 AM the next morning by my mother's snoring. LOUD-LY.

She sometimes complains of our Dad's snoring and comes to sleep in our room. My dear crazy sister has inherited whatever the gene for 'nothing-will-wake-me-up-not-even-an-alarm-clock' is, but I haven't.

So I was awake, and twitchy, and TIRED. And my being awake woke up ShortCircuit. So, to pass the time, we snuck out of our room, and went outside for a small flight.

ShortCircuit and I glided over the house for a while, then circled over the woods. I was very disappointed when we found that there were no bats flying around yet. It _was_ early February, so it was still too cold I guess.

Then ShortCircuit told me that she felt Frenzy coming. She couldn't sense his energy-signature though. Wait, now she couldn't sense anyone's!

Then we saw a police car- no, two of them!- driving up. ShortCircuit mentally pointed to the one where she could sense her brother, but was scared now.

"Barricade?" I asked, landing by the street near my home. I was hoping these weren't actual human-vehicles, but I shouldn't have worried; the police car in front was muttering irritatedly in Cybertronian.

ShortCircuit translated for me: "Stupid annoying logic-obsessed Autobot, never thinks a 'Con could actually do something selfless..."

Then Frenzy leaped out of the back door, carrying something and chittering happily to ShortCircuit. She trilled back and poked her head out to smile at him.

"Hey, Frenzy," I greeted, "Um, hi Barricade. And who's the other one?" "Prowl," the second police car told me.

"Why're you all here?" I asked, confused, "And not, you know, trying to kill one another or something? I'm glad you aren't, but I'm just wondering. And why can't ShortCircuit sense yer' signatures?" ShortCircuit was saying something to Static on the comlink as I spoke this.

"One of the small Decepticons known as 'malfunctions' contacted the Autobots," Prowl told me, "She explained with very quick speech that a signal dampener was needed to keep all of the small Decepticons in your house safe from detection by hostile Decepticons. I was coming to deliver it when I encountered Barricade and Frenzy-"

I was distracted by a 'thump' near the house, and a bright yellow-y shape came zooming across the lawn. "FrenzyFrenzyFrenzy!" the shape- Static- exclaimed excitedly, and abruptly glomped him. It was so cuuuuute!

The black-and-silver 'Con staggered and then trilled happily, dropping the thing-he-was-carrying on the ground.

"You are supposed to be careful with the signal dampener," Prowl told him. (It was spoken in Cybertronian, and ShortCircuit translated.)

"Then don't build things that are so fragile," Barricade snapped, driving backward a couple inches to bump harshly into the front of Prowl's alt-mode.

"Wait, how'd you get out?" I asked Static, ignoring the mini-fight between 'Bot and 'Con police cars.

"OpenedTheWindowInTheRoomNearTheAttic AndJumpedOntoTheTreeAndClimbedDown," she told me, a tone of 'yeah-yeah-whatever-shush-you're-bothering-me' in her voice. She immediately went back to excitedly chatting with Frenzy in Cybertronian language, as the Decepticon police car and Autobot police car argued in different languages.

...I wondered what my life had been like before I ever met Cybertronians.


	83. Chapter 83

_Hiiii! Sorry fer' not updating sooner- the computer's been crazy-ish_

_To __Kitkat from the sky__: Awesome! Oh yes, yes, please! Haha, yeah, it is. (I think it's fun to mess with almost anyone.) No, sorry, I don't know that song._

_To __Cutie Kyuubi__: Ooooohh, neat! That sounds really cool, and sounds like a great idea. It's so much fun to change plots and stuff!_

_To __Starsong008__: Oh, yes! Nerf Wars are fantastic and exciting! Cool- the last episodes or the finale/ movie 'Predacons Rising'? Ahck, school; it be a muchly difficult thing sometimes. Ok, I'll try to update more on time, and thank you!_

_Now on with the chappy-ter!_

I sat on the cool grass, watching the interesting scene. Two alien robot police cars of opposing factions argued on the street. Meanwhile, three small-ish Decepticon 'malfunctions' ran around the yard like little kids, laughing and speaking in their native language.

Blindside had come out, panicking slightly because he couldn't sense anyone's energy-signatures nearby. Once the other little 'Cons had explained, he calmed down. Now our blind friend was picking up sticks and running his hands along them, his way of examining something.

After another couple minutes of arguing between Prowl and Barricade, the Decepticon announced that he was going to leave, and told Frenzy to come along.

"AwNoPleaseDon'tLeave," Static pleaded, looking up from where she was holding Frenzy down. They'd been playing a crazily hyper game of 'find-and-chase,' which was like Cybertronian hide-and-go-seek-tag mixed with football-tackling.

Frenzy spoke apologetically to her in Cybertronian, and Static reluctantly let him up. The two relatively-little Decepticons touched their heads together affectionately, and then Frenzy and ShortCircuit did the same.

Barricade transformed to his bipedal form, leaped over Prowl, and transformed back into vehicle-mode, facing in the direction he could take to get away. Frenzy hopped in almost before Barricade had finished transforming, and the drove away- probably way over the speed limit, which I find kinda ironic.

"I'm not finished with you yet!" Prowl protested in startled annoyance, executing a U-turn and zooming after them. Static had darted up a telephone pole and now waved goodbye to Frenzy and Barricade, and ShortCircuit waved goodbye from a tree.

Static then zoomed about three laps around our house, and decided that she was now ready to go recharge in the house. Except that she'd come out through a high-up window, with a tree nearby, but no convenient roof or ledge under the window.

We had to get her inside quietly, so she could close it from inside. ShortCircuit reattached to my spine, Static scurried up the tree with some difficulty, and I flew up to hang onto the edge of the roof near the window.

Static then leaped and grabbed ahold of my ankle- ow -, smacking into the side of the house. I cringed, hoping that she wasn't hurt and that the noise hadn't woken anybody up.

We all listened very carefully, and when nothing happened, Static climbed through the window. Once inside, she set to putting the screen back into place, and I sighed in relief.

Blindside had come out through the back door, like I had, so he just went back inside through there. It was _incredible_ how quietly he could walk, and open squeaky doors!

I was still a bit antsy, so I went back to flying for a little bit longer. Also my ankle hurt. ShortCircuit was tired from her playing, but agreed to go flying for a little bit more.

After what felt like five more minutes of flying- much harder than daytime-flying, since at night there's no thermals- we flapped back home.

"Remember," ShortCircuit reminded me as I steered towards the bedroom window, "Us did sneak out through the door in the back of the house."

"Right, sorry," I whispered, miffed at my forgetfulness. I kept forgetting stuff.

"It be a defect," ShortCircuit commented. 'Nooo,' I thought back, landing in the backyard, 'It's just part of my ADHD or Asperger's, I forget which. No wait, probably ADHD.'

"So it be a processor defect," ShortCircuit concluded, "Some Decepticon malfunctions is having similar defects. So you is... human-defect?"

'No,' I told her, 'Silly. I have a bunch of qualities that fit the bunch-o'-qualities that some random professional decided to refer to as Attention-Deficit-Hyperactivity-Disorder. And calling someone a 'malfunction' isn't right; it's really rude.'

"I is knowing that very well!" ShortCircuit snapped, and I winced slightly as I eased the door closed behind us.

She continued, "Other small Decepticons and me is _called_ malfunctions! Malfunctions and defects and glitches!" 'Oh my,' I silently added.

'Well I'm sure you can all be just as awesome and dangerous as lions and tigers and bears,' I assured her, 'Anyway, how about we come up with something to call you and all the other small Decepticons, some good, cool-sounding name that isn't insulting. Whaddaya think?'

"Mm... yes," ShortCircuit decided, beginning to detach from my head, spine, and ribs. (A while ago she'd fitted in cables to my ribs for extra support for flying.)

Then she paused, and reattached. When I asked why, she explained that it was so I could talk to Starscream in case he called on the comlink. And so she could listen in on my name-ideas and give her opinion.

Plus, she didn't feel like sneaking around the house looking for a hiding place to sleep in.

So I sat and laid and sprawled on the couch downstairs, trying to come up with good ideas for what alternative name we could use for the smaller 'Cons.

Autocons, no, but it sounded cool. Deceptibots, nope.

Some combo of 'Bot' and 'Con'...? Bon, cot? NO.

Minicons, nope, that was from 'Transformers Armada.

Maybe part of one of the demeaning words, but cool-sounding...? Malcons? No, no. Gli- no, not even trying that one.

Defectcons? N- Oh, wait! That sounded a bit more promising! Hmm. **A** defect, (dee-fect) a flaw or problem, was spelled the same as **to** defect, (deh-fect) to leave or change sides. And by not obeying Megatron/twit they were sort-of defecting, so that was good...

Defecticons? Super close to 'Decepticons,' but still sounded a little insulting. ShortCircuit looked up some synonyms for me of 'to defect,' and we found some good-sounding ones: abscond, desert.

Abscondacons! ...Noooo. Same for 'Desercons.' Back to 'defect.'

Defectons? Mmm... nah. Defetons, Decatons? No. Defecitons? Nope, a bit too long. Defcons? No that was some military term.

Hmm, mayybee...

"Defecons?" Blindside inquired, sounding uncertain after I suggested it to him and Static later, once I'd slept and it was light enough to actually be considered morning.

"Yeah," I told him, uncertain but hopeful, "Def-eh-conz. 'Cons defecting from Megatwit- uh, Megatron."

"OhYesICompletelyAgreeI'dMuchRatherBeCalledADefeco nInsteadOfADefect EvenThoughItSoundsSimilarButIDon'tMind," Static agreed, "IthinkMegatronWouldReallyMindBeingCalledMagatwitT hough,EvenThoughHeReallyIs, HeyIsn'tThereAFanFictionOrMoreThanOneThatCallsHimT hat,IWonderWhoItWas You'reCatGirlFireFlareRight?"

"Uhh," I stated, wondering how we'd arrived at the topic, "Freefel and I share our account, under the name 'CatGirlFireFlare' Hey, maybe I could write a FanFic and have _you_ in it as a character!"

But by then she'd lost interest and wandered away. There was a 'thump,' and I heard her yelp, "OwThat'sThe_FourthWall_Today!" (Haha.)

Then she muttered something in Cybertronian. ShortCircuit was recharging, so I asked Blindside what Static had muttered.

"She said that she needs some good energon to wake herself up," he translated.

"Oh," I responded, then furrowed my eyebrows in concern, "Wait, how can ShortCircuit or you or Static get energon?" It wasn't as if our house was stockpiled with nice little energon cubes in case of emergency, though I wish it was. I hoped the three weren't starving!

"Errmm," Blindside mumbled sheepishly, "We get it from different places. We turn certain energy-sources into low-grade energon."

"Cool! Like what?"

"We-elll..." he answered reluctantly, "Static is probably getting energon from an electrical device or outlet right now. I've found a way to siphon it from your family's stovetop and oven. And ShortCircuit, I believe, prefers extracting energon from fuel in the vehicles here."

"... You clever little vampire-bats!" I exclaimed in amazement.

"Um, what?" he inquired, confused.

"Bats are these really cool, adorable, furry little rodent-like mammals with thin wings, and echolocation, and they fly around at night!" I explained excitedly, "Most eat bugs and some eat fruit.

But vampire-bats find a big animal, like a cow, and they nip open a small cut in the skin and lick up the blood from it with their thin pointy tongues. Their saliva is, uh, narcotic, I think is the word. So it numbs the cut, and the big animal barely even notices it was bitten."

... "That is interesting," Blindside offered politely, but still didn't seem to get it, "What is the connection to us?"

"Well," I tried again, "You and the other Defecons- if it's ok with you all for me to call you that- can drain little bits of energy from stuff very cleverly, without anyone noticing. And vampire-bats can drain tiny amounts of blood from something without anyone noticing."

"Ah," Blindside replied gratefully, "I understand the comparison now. Thank you, Seekjei." I grinned and shrugged, "No problemo."

Static zipped into the room, "WowYouSpeakMoreThanOneLanguageCanAllHumansDoThat DoYouDoThatOften?

CybertroniansCanUnderstandAndSpeakAnyLanguage ThatTheyDownloadFromEarth'sInternet WellAsLongAsThey'reAbleToSeeOrHear."

Then her speaking switched over to Spanish, and I hurriedly explained that I only knew a few basic words or phrases from it.

This apparently befuddled the Defecons, who could learn an entire language within a few seconds. I promised that I would try to explain it later.

I couldn't explain right then, because I was hurrying to finish up getting ready or I'd be late for the evil torture session known as school. Wouldn't wanna miss _that_!

Yes, I can get very grouchy when I've had very little sleep and I have to go to school, deal with it.


	84. Chapter 84

_Hey everybody! ...Sorry- yet again- for not updating sooner. There was an anniversaryparty for our parents, some hiking, and cleaning of the fish tank. We found a fish who had been dead for a long time, and a fish died today, so there have been busy times. Well, anyway, on to the reviews!_

_To __Cutie Kyuubi__: No, I don't mind at all. Thank you very much! If you thought of the combining-idea too (without seeing my Fic) then cool, I've had that happen to me. If you got the idea **from** my Fic, still, feel free to use it! I ask 'only that you use it wisely.' (I think that's what Dreadwing said...)_

_To __Starsong008__: Yaaaayyyy thank you very muchly! I wasn't sure if the name was good enough or if it sounded wierd or something. Ahh, haha, I know what that's like, going kinda crazy. (Well, crazier.)Yeah, I think breaking the fourth wall opens up some good humor possibilities. Thank you, and I'll try to make it a good chapter._

_On tooooo the chapter!_

That night, we decided to visit Starscream to see how he was doing. Ohh, the Defecons had called him on the comlink, but we all knew Starscream's habit of lie-telling. "I'm completely fine, I just have nothing better to do right now," was the gist of it.

Thusly, even though he told us he was fine, we decided to visit anyway.

The Decepticon had sounded annoyed on the comlink, and made no secret of how irritating he found the mini-TF Ferals, especially the Insecticons, to be. They were probably driving him crazy. And probably driving Tarnish crazy as well, even though a few seemed to respect him a little more.

Blindside mentioned that he'd heard some of said-Insecticons arguing- yet again- in the background noise of the comlink. Even _he_ found them a bit irritating! He'd talked with Tarnish, who'd been far more truthful and blunt about how Starry was doing-

Freefel wanted to come along, but the only way to do that would be having Blindside fly her there. My sis was still uneasy with heights, and Blindside's nerve-wires weren't complete yet (He told us that they were almost fully designed though).

The latter was just fine with Freefel, who didn't like the idea of little wires being stuck into her brain, but the big problem was navigation. The two would have to follow ShortCircuit and I- trying not to crash into us or trees, get left behind, or fall.

After some persuading, irritated exclamations, and mild shoving (between Freefel and myself), I conceded to having Freefel and Blindside fly after us... about two feet off the road. Idiocy! Any random driver could zoom into sight and see us!

_'Noooo_,' argued my (LITTLE!) sister, 'we'll see their lights coming and hiiiide!' Well, sister, it is not that easy! We all quickly learned that when the first car drove up b_ehind us_! I reserve the right to be smug and annoyed at the same time. Ha!

Thankfully ShortCircuit spotted the light shining onto the road, and we all quickly 'took evasive maneuvers.' In English? 'Yelping in panic and crashing through/into the nearest trees, and laying on the cold ground of pointy sticks and leaves until the car went away.'

I was slightly relieved that Static hadn't come; she probably would've zipped ahead without us. She'd stayed at our house- grudgingly- because she didn't have an alt-mode yet, she was too brightly colored to hide, and it'd be too long on foot.

Static was mind-explodingly fast, but not so good at long-distance travelling. Kinda like a hyper little cheetah. She was determined to find an alt-mode though, and was probably talking with the mini-TFs and looking up ideas online.

"Oh, that reminds me!" I exclaimed randomly, "Just hang on, I'll be right back!"

"WHAT?!" Freefel protested, and I lightly bonked her on the head, hissing "Shhh!"

"I _saaaiiid_ I'll _beee_ right **_back_**!" I repeated, "You and Blindside can keep going, right? His rocket-thingies are really fast. I just hafta get something."

"Thank you," Blindside told me. "Get what?" Freefel questioned.

"Something," I repeated wisely, nodding my head in a sage manner. Then ShortCircuit and I flew back home to get the thingy I wanted to bring.

ShortCircuit complained about the waste of time and nagged me, but only 'cause we had nothing else to do on the way back. 'Not a waste of time,' I mentally corrected her.

'_Is_ a waste of time,' she insisted. 'Is not.' 'Is.' 'Ain't.' 'Not ain't.' 'Is. Wait what?'

We chuckled faintly at ourselves, though I had to keep quiet as we went inside. Entering the hallway, we were almost immediately besieged by Static, who was demanding to know how the visit had gone.

"We didn't get there yet," I whispered as quietly as I could, "ShortCircuit and I came back to get something." '**You** did come back,' my friend corrected, 'I is and was having no choice in the matter.'

'Yeah you were,' I thought back, my expression a bit befuddled and just faintly annoyed and amused, 'I mean, was, are, do, whatever. Ya could've started detaching, or moved your feathers so we wouldn't fly correctly.'

'...Blihh,' she finally sniffed dismissively, amusedly miffed and having no good answer. Static asked what we'd just been saying/thinking, and I told her- again, as quietly as I could. During that time, I found what I'd been searching for, and headed back toward our room.

Then I heard someone coming, and I quickly darted into the bathroom. I turned quickly to gesture to Static to hide behind the shower curtain or something, but she wasn't there.

A second later, I saw my mom coming to the doorway, and I quickly tossed the object into the bathtub. Oh well, any leftover water won't do it any harm.

My mom flicked on the light- _OW, my EYES, thanks a lot-_, asking hoarsely, "What're you doing?" (She usually sounds like that when she's tired.)

"I was thirsty," I told her, squinting and holding a cup of water in my hand. "At some point in the past," I added almost silently.

"Huh?"

"Nothin'," I told her, deliberately yawning. She nodded, turned off the light- _great, now my night-vision is GONE_- and left. I stood, blinking hard for several seconds so my eyes would adjust all over again.

ShortCircuit smugly informed me that her optics didn't _need_ to adjust. I mentally mimicked her, annoyed, when I spotted two glowing circles. On the ceiling.

The circles blinked, and then Static lowered herself down from where she was holding herself up between the tops of the walls.

I stared at her. "Wow." The Defecon cackled- quietly somehow- and darted away. I shook my head and retrieved the object from the tub, then went back to the window.

A few minutes later, alternating between flying and running along the road, ShortCircuit and I found Freefel and Blindside. Well, they found us, Freefel calling out to us in a relieved whisper, and then berating me for taking so long.

"What was soooo important anyway?" she hissed as we went back to flying, then hiding again as a car whooshed past.

She finally conceded to flying above the tree tops, which was actually a ton easier and - compared to road-skimming - practically relaxing! So, grinning, I showed her.

"That's," she scoffed in disbelief, "what you went back to get? A blanket? REALLY?!"

"A super-duper s_oft_ blanket," I corrected my sister, "And it is a gift for Starry. I promised I'd do something to make up for possibly scarring him for life with the pranks, and this is it."

"... A blanket?" Freefel repeated, skeptical.

"Yes a blanket!" I affirmed miffedly, "It's sooooo soft! Ya know how flour feels super soft when you stick your fingers- ooh, or even yer' entire hand- in the jar, Freefel? This is t_hat_ soft." And thus said, I dropped back in the air and mushed the super-soft-thing in Freefel's face.

"What in th- stop it you- mmf! ...Vhat **iv** foft," (that **is** soft) my sister exclaimed, ordered, 'mmf'ed, and admitted, adding that she'd rip my arm off if I didn't move it away. I quickly moved the wonderfully soft thing away from my dangerous sister, and rubbed my face in it.

ShortCircuit, after a deadpan silence, informed me that there was so much wrong with my brain that it might one day randomly explode. I thanked her for that highly enlightening fact, and continued in my activity of mushing my face in the thing.

"Where'd you even _get_ that thing?" Freefel asked.

"Ptff," I scoffed, "Why d'you think I actually _asked_ to go with our parents to the store?"

"_That_ was why?" she gasped. Either of us actually wanting to go to a store was practically unheard of.

"Can you think of any other reason I would willingly go inside a store full of peeeopllle?" I answered.

"You mean besides going to see animals?" Hm, good point.

"Petstores are different," I insisted/explained, "I tolerate entering them." Stores were big and crowded and full of strangers and noise.

I figured that 1: the blanket was uber soft. 2: Cybertron and its inhabitants were made of metal, so there were probably almost no soft things for them to pet. 3: Static was amazed by soft things, so why not Starry too? And 4:... I just thought he might like it.

'Tis soft, can clean stuff, can cover wounds, can be folded up to be easily carried, can be used as a net for small humans... Yup, he just might like my present.

At least I hoped so. I'd actually gone into a store _willingly_ to get it for him!

_Oh, and in case anyone was planning on mentioning it, no thank you, I do not celebrate the holiday of costumes and candy-munching. Have a nice day!_


	85. Chapter 85

_Hello! I've been taking a break from working on my FanFics- trying to more-or-less regularly update three stories is really hard, plus I have other stuff to do, a bunch of other stories to plan in my head and/or write/draw, and many FanFics to review on. So, a little distracted I be._

_To __AutobotSoShi__: Cool, but uh, 'cutest little white' whats? Sorry, I thing FanFiction might've cut the word off. I need to work on some things, but thank you; I'm doing my best!_

_To __Starsong008__: Yeah, (it's a real thing- my family has several!) it's nice. Heh heh, well, Starscream is rather proud, and... well I don't what else exactly. *gasps* Oh noo, I'm so sorry! We used to have Japanese Fighting Fish/Betas; they're truly beautiful. Again, I'm really sorry. Oh wow- the Mini-TF sounds really cool! Yes, they do indeed._

_And now, on to the chapterrr!_

"Staaarrryy!" I called in a rough whisper.

"**What.**" came his reply, and I jumped in midair at the volume of it. Even normal-volume speaking can sound loud and startling in the quiet, cold night.

"Where are you?" I whisper-called, and the Decepticon answered from somewhere nearby, "I'm right here, human. Fly lower."

ShortCircuit and I did so, hovering at a bit lower than tree-level. Though I couldn't see the trees, ShortCircuit and I could feel our wingtips tapping them as we flapped.

ShortCircuit told me that Starscream's energy-signature was somewhere over to the left, but I still couldn't see him- it was too dark. Also, ShortCircuit mentioned that the presence of the Mini-TFs was interfering slightly.

'How so?' I asked, and she explained, "Them, 'Mini-TFs' as you and your sister is calling them, them have sma-"

Her explanation was cut off when all of a sudden two huge scarlet optics snapped open just a few feet away, the trees to either side suddenly rattling and two gigantic arms and a head lunged toward us!

"Myih'AAAAA!" I shrieked in terrified panic, forgetting to flap and then pinwheeling both arms and wings spasmodically, flapping backwards in a highly undignified manner. (I had no idea I could scream so high-pitched! Oh goodness I sounded like a girly-girl in a horror movie. ...This is humiliating.)

Then ShortCircuit- who'd yelped in startled surprise- and I managed to hover in roughly on spot several yards away. ShortCircuit hadn't been nearly as panicked, since she had a pretty good sense of where Starscream was, but my panic had affected her, and that lunge-thing had been scary.

I was gasping and panting like crazy- and continued to do so for about a minute, as if I'd been holding my breath for a long time or running a race.

Starscream was laughing, a sound I could easily hear over my breathless panting. It was sorta like a combination of a cackle and a guffaw.

Astonishingly, I heard Blindside laughing too- a bright, amazed-happy laugh. ShortCircuit liked the sound, and wistfully let me know that she hadn't heard it very often for a long time.

Still gasping, I managed to gulp/gasp out, "H-h-h'ho-ow di-d... _h-he_... knno-w?" I was referring to how in the universe Blindside had known that Starscream had basically jumped out of nowhere and terrified me.

Freefel, who hadn't heard my heavily-wheezing question, asked Blindside in slight panic, "Why're you laughing? Seekjei _screamed_; that's usually not a good thing!"

Blindside chuckled a couple more times, slightly-apologetic but still very amused little quiet laughs, the kind where the laugher apologizes 'I'm-sorry,-I-know,-but-your-expression-was-just-s o-funny!'

When he answered Freefel, I could literally _hear_ the smile, the residual laughter in his voice, as could ShortCircuit. We drifted down to land on the cold grass, me still twitching a bit.

"I am laughing because your sister's yell sounded very funny. There is no need to worry though; she and ShortCircuit are not injured. I don't know exactly what happened, but I have an overall grasp of it."

"And what would that be?" Starscream half-snapped impatiently, in a tone that suggested it was just to make Blindside stop talking. I'd nearly stopped panting, and now narrowed my eyes at Starscream, clenching my teeth slightly so they scraped.

Starscream wasn't usually this impatient, so the Ferals must have been really annoying for a while. But still, that was no excuse!

Blindside didn't reply, and it was that sort of sad, defeated silence. I felt so bad for him, and sort-of knew a little of how he felt. Our parents would sometimes do that when they were angry/disappointed in us, and then they'd demand "_Well...?_" And we'd have to reply dully.

Starscream didn't do that, but he sighed sort of regretfully or tiredly, and asked more gently and coaxingly, "How did you figure that out?"

Blindside responded, but it was without any smile in his dulled tone, "I sensed both energy-signatures, a- a little indistinctly because of the presence of the Ferals, but I could tell how near they were approaching."

He sounded like he feared another rebuke for taking too long. "And then I heard the trees move suddenly, and metallic movement and the human yelled and I heard flapping." He finished up quickly.

"That was good," Starscream told him encouragingly, attempting to be nicer and cheer Blindside up. Then he asked a genuine question, "How did you know that neither Seekjei nor ShortCircuit were injured?"

"There was no pain in the yell. I did not smell blood or energon," Blindside stated. There was a pause as Starscream thought for a second. Then he replied, faintly impressed, "Clever."

"Thank you," Blindside stated woodenly. He sounded as if he'd nearly included the word 'sir,' as he was probably accustomed to. He and Freefel were still inching forward in the air, unable to hover very well yet.

"You're allowed to land," Starscream informed him. Blindside instantly turned off his engines to almost zero, making Freefel screech in panic. The action had been so quick, unthinking, it must've been a deeply ingrained response to such an order.

Thankfully, three things ensured that both were safe. Uno, they were at a height where Freefel's feet dangled less than two yards above the ground. Dos, Blindside had apparently known how to turn his engines on slightly stronger just before landing. And tres, he remembered that Freefel was there and that she could get scared or injured by his automatic reflex.

My sister panted nervously, half-whimpers of panic barely held back. She wriggled out of the jetpack straps and dug her fingers into the grass. I'd run forward and now gave her a hug. Blindside had already transformed to bipedal mode and stood stiffly.

Starscream said nothing for a moment. Then... "ShortCircuit informed me that you were the one who constructed that-" -Starscream said something in Cybertronian- "which repaired my wings. Good work."

Blindside gave a sharp, quick nod. By the faint, shadowy silver light from his optics, I could see his expression was bitter and self-blaming. I guess being unable to see others' expressions meant that he'd never quite learned to hide his own. ShortCircuit felt sad for him, as did I.

But the silence was really awkward, so I volunteered a question, "Um, what was that device thingy called?" Starscream repeated the Cybertronian term.

"... Uh," I still had no clue what that meant, "A little help for the poor clueless human, please?" "Hey!" Freefel snapped, to which I retorted, "I was referring to _myself_, oh hostile sibling of mine." "Oh. Sorry." "Meh."

"I'm not one to think up translations," Starscream told me, "Blindside?"

After some hesitation, the quiet Defecon replied cautiously, "The best translation I can offer... would be... 'sonic particle loosen-er.'" "Cool," I told him, "Thanks." He still kept needing to be cheered up, poor guy.

"What is this for?" Starscream asked, pointing at the super-soft blanket I'd dropped during my freaking-out and had picked back up. ShortCircuit and I jumped up and I flung it around his hand in a sort-of hug.

"T'is a super soft thing, Starry," I informed him, "And it is for you. To apologize for the pranks" "Pranks?" Blindside inquired, perking up slightly. He'd stayed at our house as we girls and femmes embarked on our great pranking quest.

Starscream firmly pushed me down by my head before I could answer. "Noo-oo need to go into that," hastily assured Blindisde.

I'm certain I saw a smirking grin flash across Blindside's face for a moment, and silently cheered. ShortCircuit was happy too, and thought it was adorable.

Well, I'm not a Cybertronian, so, I dunno. *shrugs* But they both seemed happy, so, yippee!

_Again, sorry fer' the wait, but I can't spend all/most of my free time writing and get twitchy if I try. Too many distractions, which I enjoy!_


	86. Chapter 86

_GYAAACK! I am sooooooo sorry for not updating! I was grounded from the computer for a month and then kept procrastinating the update for this story and working on other stuff I am soooooooo sorry! But don't worry- I'm updating now, I'm not dead, I'm not ending the story, etc._

_To Phantom Kitty Cat: Thank you so muchly! Heh heh, yeah, he likes scaring people- especially me, since I have the habit of annoying him yet being somehow endearing as well. *grins impishly* Thanks, but I think Starry just doesn't really know what to do with gifts, 'specially from me. You can probably find the super-soft kind at a store- the kind that I speak of are usually white or tan, and in clear, think-plastic-y bags with zippers, I think. Probably at a Wal-Mart or something._

_To EHSparkwoman: Hellooo! Now worries, I need to remember to review on other persons' stories a lot, but I keep forgetting. Aah, don't worry about me/Seekjei- I'm/she's tough, and we get back at Starry by annoying him. It's so much fun! Yeah, sorry again for not updating- I think it's been about a month and a half! Shame on me, haha._

"So, human," Starscream asked, holding the super-soft blanket between two fingers in the air, "What would this be for?"

"To make up for the pranks," I reminded him, ShortCircuit and I still flapping in the air near his hand. "Yes yes I heard that already," he snapped slightly.

Apparently he did not want to be reminded of that bizarre incident. (I still think I could've come up with more to scare him. But ah well, maybe next time. *grins*)

"I'd meant," the 'Con continued, "What is this thing for? I see no point in carrying it around, human."

"Well I _do_, O Cybertronian," I quipped. He glanced at the object for a moment before making an odd face and inquiring, "Is this some kind of reference to that 'Armada' series?"

I tilted my head for a second before realizing my error. "What? What's that hav- Oh." I realized it and then chuckled, "_Ohh_, no no no, no no."

"...Ew no!" I added, making a face after thinking about the faint implications about 'TF Armada' Starscream and the Alexis character, the only female human from the show, "_Noo_ no no no. Heh heh, _**no**_. Just realized that this second, oi. No no, just a gift."

"'Gift' in German means poison," Freefel spoke up conversationally. A tiny laugh came from Blindside.

Starscream glanced at Freefel incredulously for a second, then sighed, stating blandly to me, "Human, you annoy me." And then he scooped ShortCircuit and me up in the dangling blanket-object, making it into a sort of large soft bag.

He was probably expecting us to be startled, annoyed maybe, and trying to escape.

I'm pretty sure he must've wondered why I began writhing spasmodically in the blanket/bag, because he brought it up close to his face and peeked inside, like a little kid peeking inside a small bag to observe a completely insane snake.

What Starry saw when he looked inside... was me, rubbing my face on the soft walls of the fabric-y container, wriggling against it like a hyper and catnip-ed cat, and humming, "Hm, hm, HMM!" in pleasure.

"Hm," stated ShortCircuit, "_Is_ soft."

And that's when we landed in a heap on the ground. Blindside asked something in Cybertronian and ShortCircuit made a moaning chirp.

"OW!" I announced to Starscream, a bit insulted, "What was that for?" "_**A lot**_," Starscream informed me, "Believe me, _a lot_."

"Pfaaaa," I hissed good-humoredly at him as ShortCircuit and I clawed our way out. "You ok?" Freefel called.

"Blagh." I informed her. My hair, which I usually kept in a ponytail so it doesn't flop in my face, was staticky and sticking up all over and getting in my eyes and mouth.

I clawed it off my tongue as ShortCircuit detached to do her own cleaning. A few torn threads from the back of my shirt had gotten frayed and stuck in her pointed armor and a couple metallic feathers, two of which were slightly bent from being landed on.

I'd landed on my scraped knee and was probably forming a bruise on my elbow and a rib or two. See? Don't try this at home- we're not stunt artists, we get hurt.

"Yeep!" I heard Freefel exclaim, "Whawuzzat?!" What now? Gigantic little mutant frog bats? Wait, how does that make sense? Never mind!

"What is it?" I called, not too worried- with a giant Decepticon, a Defecon, and a bunch of Ferals, what could be here?

"Something touched my foot," Freefel told me, panting and nervous but not as scared now, "It uh..." She trailed off, and Blindside let out a small sound of victory as he snatched something from the grass.

"Lemme go lemme go lemme go!" the something demanded. Illuminated by the light from ShortCircuit's blue optics and Blindside's silvery ones, I could see that it was a one of the mini Insecticons.

Freefel sighed in relief, "Oh, it's you guys." "Yes and they have been complaining unceasingly," came Tarnish's voice. I could see him stalking quietly through the grass, his amber optics glowing brightly and reflecting off his dark bronze armor.

'He looks like a tiger,' I thought to ShortCircuit, and then remembered that she wasn't attached to my head and back right then. She hopped backwards a little, finishing her self-inspection, and inched a little closer. Understandably, the other Defecon _was_ kinda intimidating.

"Those pests have been bothering me nonstop!" Starscream added in annoyance, referring to the Ferals who now swarmed to Freefel and me, mostly me.

"Bring us back!" one wailed. I couldn't see which one. "Yeah," another agreed- **whoa**, they're _agreeing_ now?!- "We wanna go back!" "It's too windy here!" "It's all dirty!" "There's no roof!" "There's no bats either!"

"Whoa wait a minute!" I exclaimed, "Yer' saying that our attic has bats?" "Yeah." "Cool!" I declared, grinning. Bats are awesome!

"Silence, human!" another Feral demanded, irritatingly, "Just bring us back there!" I couldn't be sure, but I thought I heard a noise. Anyway! "Mmnn, nah," I told the bossy Feral- probably Mini-Starry, "Not unless you say please." Manners are very important. *nods*

A Mini-Insecticon answered. "NEVERRR!" just as another Mini stated "Please."

"Ok, _yes_!" I announced, "Who said please?" "It's me: Mirage," called the little G1 Feral.

"Ok," I chirped, leaning down with my hand outstretched in the direction of his voice. I heard a small, slightly nasty laugh and two different Ferals tried to climb on- I think one was the mantis -Swivel- and the other was the mosquito- Needle.

"Hey hey hey!" I snapped firmly, "No, you little fakers. Off!" I pulled one off my hand and placed them both back on the ground. They refused to let go, of course, so Freefel pulled them off for me.

"Thank you," I told my sister, and helped Mini-Mirage up onto my right shoulder. (As I did so, Blindside mercifully took one of the pointy and violent Minis from Freefel, who thanked him for saving her hands.)

Mini-Mirage thanked me, shivered, "Brrrr," and wrapped himself in a bunch of my hair. Well, it's not like they have coats to wear, so, ok.

"There ya go," I told him warmly, "You're welcome to come home. Along with anybody else who's polite enough to say please."

"NEVER!" one of the Ferals yelled, accompanied by three other "Never"s. Must've been the Mini-Insecticons.

I heard a soft hissing noise and saw that it came from Tarnish, whose amber optics were narrowed in the Mini-Insecticons' direction. Little squeaks of fright came from all four of them, and some shuffling noises in the grass.

"Aah, uh, please," a reluctant voice stated embarrassedly, but not one of the Insecticons, "Ironhide here." "Thaaank _you_!" I told him, "Here, c'mon up!" I placed the red Mini-Autobot on my shoulder next to Mirage, leaving my other shoulder open for any others who wanted to come.

"The real- I mean, the big Ironhide," I confided in a whisper, "is much scarier. He tried to kill me." "WHAT?!" Mini-Mirage and Mini-Ironhide (who also was pulling my hair around himself) both exclaimed, unintentionally hurting my right ear.

At the same time, a Mini-Insecticon quipped unpleasantly, "He should have! You're annoying!" "A_hem_," Freefel growled.

"Ah well," I sighed mock-regretfully, "I can just leave you guys here." "NOOO!" the rest of the Ferals wailed.

There was the crunching noise of grass being stepped on, and Tarnish- now crouched slightly in front of me, reminded the Mini who'd thrown the insult, "Slighting your ally when they are attempting to help you is pointless, Feral. The terms are simple and beyond fair, so please **think** before reacting like that."

After a couple seconds, during which Tarnish did not move, the Mini-Insecticon finally squeaked, "Ok." I noticed there'd been a faint emphasis on 'please.' Tarnish stood smoothly back up, glanced at me casually, and stepped back.

Another few awkward seconds, there was a tiny little flapping noise, and something squeaked or chirped and touched my hand.

ShortCircuit- standing to my left- looked at it, and by the light from her optics I could see little Mini-Laserbeak. He looked up and squeaked again, and I smiled, telling him gently, "Yes, you can come too."

The tiny avian chirped happily, fluttered up near my head like a moth, and climbed into my hair. It was hard not to giggle- it tickled!

"AW alright, fine," another Mini Feral grumbled, "_Please_." "Mini-Starry?" I guessed, easily recognizing his voice. "Yes," he muttered.

"Come on up," I told him indulgently- his pride must've been stinging, so I felt a liiiiiiittttle bad for him. The little Seeker Feral grabbed onto my wrist, and I placed him on my left shoulder. He curled up by my neck, pulling yet more of my hair around him like a blanket.

"Aw, you're really cold, aren'cha?" I asked sympathetically. I was beginning to notice just how cold _I_ was too, and it didn't really help when ShortCircuit poked me in the back with her cold claw-fingers; it meant she wanted to reattach so we could fly back home.

"Please!" a bunch of little voices snapped- the Mini-Insecticons- and I felt little plastic hands pawing at my ankle. Four pairs- Freefel must've released the two she'd been holding in her hands.

"Did all of you say it?" I asked, rather sugary sweetly. I glimpsed Tarnish glaring at me slightly, and I quickly held up my hands in defense, "I'm serious! I can't tell if they all said it! Has to be fair."

A barely visible nod from Tarnish. Ok good, I'm safe!

"Please," a Mini-Insecticon- Mothra- snapped. "Please," another-Swivel- hissed. "Please," Arnant mumbled. "Please," stated Needle.

Starscream, who'd been observing in amusement, chuckled, "The malfunction has been attempting to train them. It's quite amusing to watch."

At the start of several angry Mini voices, Freefel quickly interrupted, "Well I guess there's no need to undo that, right?" I nodded and added, "They've been... well, a _little_ more polite, I think. And don't call Tarnish- or anybody else- a malfunction!"

There was a small scoff of disbelief from Starscream, but I continued as if I didn't hear him, "So, thank you all very much!" I declared to the Mini-Insecticons, "You're all welcome to come home. Umm..."

I looked- with difficulty, having four Minis in my hair- at myself, having one spot left on my shoulder, and two pockets in my sweatpants.

"I dunno if yer' all gonna fit..." I warned, stumped, "Where can I put you all so you're warm and don't fall?"

"In yer' shirt!" one of the Mini-Insecticons answered simply, and I shrieked "_NO!_", probably hurting the ears of the Minis-on-my-shoulders-and-head.

"Why not?" asked another Mini-Insecticon, genuinely puzzled. The others asked this too, all sincerely confused.

Oh thank goodness, thank all the goodness in all the universes.

"Uh, b-because, humans don't do that," I explained slowly, feeling like a parent 'explaining ' to their child, "I'll tell you when you're older."

"Ohhh, surely there must be **some** reason," the real Starscream drawled, and I could just _hear_ the most evil smirk in his tone.

"AND YOU BE QUIET!" Freefel ordered him, and I could see her glaring and pointing at him. Starscream growled slightly and reached out his claw-like-fingered hand at her, and Freefel smacked at it with one hand and jumped away.

"Hey don't hurt my sister!" I told him, and at a glare from the giant 'Con, I amended by pretending to beg, "Please don't hurt her! She wasn't trying to be rude."

"_Starscream's_ being **rude**," Freefel muttered mutinously in a growl, searching for a large branch to use if needed.

In reply, Starscream picked up the super-soft-blanket and dropped it on her. Freefel complained in surprise, "Gack!" and pulled it off, thus staticky-i-fy-ing her hair and making Starscream snicker at it.

"Perhaps it would be easiest if the Ferals would allow us to carry them in this," Blindside suggested, picking up on corner of the object, thus interrupting the brewing argument and also calming several tempers.

ShortCircuit thought he was really good at that. I nodded in reply, then realized that ShortCircuit hadn't been attached to my brain when she thought that just then.

...She... hadn't been... attached... when I... heard...

ShortCircuit turned to look at me with wide optics, as if sensing my freaked-outness. Without being attached to my brain via nerve wires being stuck into my head!

_**O**_-_kaaayy_, this is getting spooky. Well maybe not spooky, it's all science-y stuff, but definitely, uh, startling. Scary, not exactly, 'cause it probably wasn't a bad thing. ...I hoped.

"That is a good idea, Blindside!" I quickly announced loudly, freaked out by this new development I'd discovered about my head and trying not to show it.

Tarnish was staring at ShortCircuit and me with... not _huge_ optics, but definitely wider optics than I'd seen him look with before. Had he seen something?

"Wait but I thought you wanted Screamer to keep the thing?" Freefel asked, gesturing to the soft sheet.

"Ohh yes and I WILL!" I declared dramatically, going back to normal (normal for me).

"I doubt it, human," Starscream told me with a grin in his voice, and the ndropped the blanket on me. "Don't do that!" I complained, clawing it off.

Starry grinned, "Say please."


	87. Chapter 87

_And yet again, I begin a chapter with an apology. I'm really sorry for not updating sooner! And here come the excuses; I had school to deal with, and... then... I will explain this part later. And now I've just finished several long projects at once and am now worrying about midterms which are evil, and several story ideas in my head._

_To optoclaw: Hah, is that a good thing or a bad thing? Aa, sorry, I've been trying to make my chapters longer, but I think they're nearing their limit a' longness. Same here- I read kinda fast too. Oh don't worry, many more chapters are on their way. ...Eventually. Yaayy, it's awesome to here from another person who's insane! And, by the way, thank you very much for reviewing!_

_Ok so, on to the chapter!_

I scowled good-humoredly up at Starscream and pawed at my hair (much to the displeasure of the Minis hiding in the longer bits). This was to stop it from being so frizzy and clinging to my face.

'Gyaaa this is so annoying!' I thought to myself, finally plastering the floating-around hair down. I glimpsed ShortCircuit wriggling her head slightly and nodding. Then she stopped and stared at me with huge blue optics.

"You could use some practice flying," Tarnish spoke up, though when I turned around with an indignant expression to reply, I saw that he was actually talking to Freefel. Oh.

"Uh," Freefel stated nervously. She hadn't met Tarnish before, and it relieved me that the intimidating 'Con had spoken almost gently. Well, as gently as he ever got.

"I agree," Blindside stated mildly, referring to Tarnish's suggestion to practice. I nodded and added reassuringly to my sister, "You could try it really low to the ground, so you won't be high up..."

"What about us?!" demanded one of the little Ferals angrily, "We want to go home!" I found it sweet that they thought of our house as 'home,' not 'that place where we'll stay if we have to,' or something like that.

"Here!" I announced, holding up the super-soft blanket, "You can stay in this thing and warm up while we practice our flying."

"It isn't warm though," another Mini objected truthfully.

That was a good point, and I sighed. "Haaaahhh. Ok, fine. Here, look; Freefel can sit on it and warm it up."

"How would that help?" Mini-Starry asked, poking his head out from where he was snuggled in my hair.

"Freefel's like a walking heater!" I exclaimed happily, and at Freefel's slightly-confused glare, I explained, "Well, _I_ sit someplace for maybe ten minutes and it'll be warm-ish, but _Freefel_ sits on it for maybe _one_ minute and it's be a lot warmer! ...Ok I'm exaggerating. A little."

Blindside shook his head slightly, "Humans are... very, very strange." I grinned, "Yyyep! That we be!"

I saw Tarnish rolling his optics before he spoke impatiently, "Your species is extremely bizarre and makes very little sense, true. Do you plan on actually doing anything other than standing here and talking throughout the night?"

"Ye-es," I told him, miffed, and then suggested to Freefel, "How about ShortCircuit and I do a little flying-practice first, and then you can try it after you've warmed up?"

"Mmmm..." Freefel mumbled slowly, "O-kaayy, I guess." "Yippee!" I cheered, barely remembering not to jump around because there were Mini-Insecticons on the ground and Minis in my hair.

So Freefel sat down on the blanket- which now had frozen dirt and stuff on it- and wrapped herself up in it. Blindside, who wouldn't be able to see us, remained standing a little ways off.

ShortCircuit started explaining that it was so the noise of Freefel's breathing wouldn't distract him from the sounds of our flying. And then we both realized that, again, she hadn't been attached to my spine and head when I'd 'heard' her 'say' that.

I crouched down and ShortCircuit crawled onto my back, making me twitch from how very cold her metal fingers and feathers were.

Mini-Mirage and Mini-Ironhide jumped off my shoulders to huddle in the blanket. Mini-Laserbeak and Mini-Starscream stayed perched on my head to watch ShortCircuit's nerve-wires sliding into the tiny openings in my head and back.

Mini-Starscream made a funny "_Eeuugh_" noise of fascinated disgust. I twitched again and shivered as ShortCircuit's freezing cold nerve-wires finished connecting.

'Sorry,' she thought to me as I stood up, and I shook my head with a shudder.

'How come we could still sort of hear each other?!' I instead demanded in a very freaked-out mental 'voice' as Mini-Starry climbed down my arm and jumped down.

'I does not be knowing!' ShortCircuit replied in a half-wail of confused frustration, 'It be like hearing a comlink, but in the mind the way that our thought-speaking does be!'

"Our speaking," referring to the mental communication between ourselves that ShortCircuit and I had gotten used to.

"Well...?" Starscream asked mockingly, making me jump a little, "Should I throw you in the air before you can start flying?"

"No!" I half-snapped, stomping over to a tree. I managed to clamber up a few feet and hold onto a thick branch (reeeally hoped it didn't have any poison oak on it), and ShortCircuit and I flapped our wings several times before letting go.

We dropped a bit, and then struggled up higher through the cold air. I got my face smacked by a bunch of pointy twigs, which was annoying. I'd have to make sure our parents wouldn't notice the scratch-marks.

After a couple minutes of flying and collaborating together, ShortCircuit and I managed to come up with an educated guess.

Other than that, we just listened in on what was going on down on the ground. Starscream was standing and looking off into the distance, and occasionally saying stuff in Japanese.

"Hey, let's try flying sideways in a really tight circle," I told ShortCircuit excitedly. "How shall us be able to do that?" she asked, interested.

I explained my idea of how we would fly to the left, tilting our left wing down and right wing up, tilting them farther as we tried to spin in a circle like a top. So we tried, tilting our left wing down and not flapping it.

Not. Good. We lost our balance and fell, with me landing on my right foot, left knee, and right hand. Then I collapsed, hoping I wasn't laying on any slugs. *shudders* But it was winter, so probably not.

"O genki desu ka?" Starscream asked, strolling over. (Sounds like "Oh-GENG-kee de-SKA?") I've been learning little bits of Japanese, so I knew that this meant 'How are you?' or, literally, 'Are you fine?'

"Uunnngg," I groaned. I'd landed on one of my scraped knees. "I'm fine, ShortCircuit's ok." ShortCircuit told me that she'd prefer telling whether or not she was ok. I agreed and limped over to rest in the blanket.

Freefel had actually fallen asleep in it but had woken up when we fell. I wriggled my way into the now-very-warm blanket and nudged Freefel out to practice with Blindside. She glared at me, but I didn't mind. Ahhh, warmth!

"I'm only going to do a little bit, and then we'll go home," my sister told me, partly-nervous and partly-firm.

Being tired myself, I shrugged and nodded as we curled up, "Ok." ShortCircuit agreed too; she was staying on my spine so we would hear one another's thoughts while connected, the way we normally would, instead of while being apart. 'Normally'? Nothing is normal!

Something poked my arm and I glanced up, gasping and jumping back in surprise when I saw Tarnish's dark face and glowing amber optics a few inches away. Nnggiaah his face was really close! T'was both scary and awkward and looked kinda awesome.

"U-um, yes?" I asked, glancing everywhere except at him. Can't help it; for me with my Asperger's Syndrome, looking most people in the eye- or optic- is something that just does not happen. Or happens for a only a second or few at a time.

"How were you communicating together when you were not physically connected?" Tarnish asked almost silently, though in his hard voice it sounded much like a statement, faintly like a scolding parent. Or a stern and slightly impatient Spock...

"Um, we're not totally sure-" I began telling him, but ShortCircuit asked abruptly, 'How does him know, or seem to be knowing?' I asked him for her.

"Hmm," the dark bronze Defecon stated in amusement, crouching in the grass to our right, at eye/optic level with me– I'm feeling very nervous now!– "Another example of Cybertronians' thought processes being quicker than those of humans..."

"Excuse me!" I told him indignantly, glaring and scrambling away a little. Some of the Ferals, who'd fallen asleep, made noises and glanced up. Tarnish looked unconcerned by their presence, and the Minis snuggled deeper into the warm blanket and went back to sleep.

Starscream however, had heard me too and looked over. "What are you doing...?" he asked Tarnish, and we could almost hear the unspoken ending of '-... with my human?'

"Why so interested?" Tarnish inquired, coolly amused, "I was questioning her and ShortCircuit about the some of the specifics involved with the effects of their connection on their mental processes-"

"Alriiight, alright," Starscream interrupted, apparently bored, and went back to observing Blindside and Freefel.

Tarnish narrowed his optics at me and repeated his earlier question to me.

"Why are you asking that?" I hissed quietly, "And why are we whispering?"

His burning optics narrowed further, "I can sense when comlinks are in use, and I sensed it between you both when you were several feet away from one another."

"Ah," I stated faintly, "Ok. Well, we don't know how we did it, but..." ShortCircuit and I explained our idea.

Our hypothesis was that maybe the large-ish amount of ShortCircuit-nerve-wire-stuff in me was making some sort of connection between my brain and her processor.

She _had_ left the endings of the nerve-wires in my head, back, and ribs for easier connection and to stop it from hurting us. So maybe those leftover pieces were causing the 'I-can-sort-of-sometimes-hear-your-thoughts-now-even-though-we-aren't-connected' thing?

Either way it felt a lot less creepy after we'd talked about it in science-y terms.

"My apologies," Tarnish told us with a rueful grin, less stiff now, "I _have_ developed the habit of being suspicious of all supposed allies." "...Oh," I stated quietly, kind of awkward.

"Stop talkiiiiinng!" one of the Mini-Insecticons whined loudly, jabbing my left leg with something pointy. Maybe his leg, maybe a stick.

"ShhHH!" another Mini-Insecticon scolded, and another hissed the same thing. Then all four were engaged in a "Shh"ing fight.

Starscream snapped somethingat them in Japanese, glaring at them with bared teeth. Or denta, I think that's what Cybertronians have for teeth...

"I agree," I told the Feral Insecticons. Starscream snorted, "You don't even know what that meant, human."

"I dooo," I told him slightly indignantly. ShortCircuit had translated for me. "Then what does it mean," Starscream stated deadpanly.

"Iht meansh..." I told him, randomly speaking in a deep Draco-from-'Dragonheart,'-y voice, "to SHAHT UHP, idee-itsh!" This last part was directed to the still-arguing Mini-Insecticons, who stared up at me.

"M-hmm..." Starscream stated, either disturbed or amused. "You sound really cool in Japanese," I told him. "I always do," he told me smugly.

"How humble of you, Starry," I stated in a deadpan tone, with a facial expression to match. The Decepticon's smirk turned into a slightly annoyed half-scowl, "Don't call me that."

I nodded agreeably, "Yes, Starry." He growled at me and I saw Tarnish, who'd vanished earlier, smirk faintly.

"I can do that too!" I told Starscream cheerfully, "'**Grr**'!" He narrowed his eyes in a hilarious scowling/pouting expression of distaste and leaned forward, "... _Shoo._"

"Yes sir!" I replied with a smile and a fake salute.

So Freefel, Blindside, ShortCircuit, the Ferals, and I had to leave and fly back home. Well, we walked part-way and flew a little over half-way.

Tarnish stayed behind with Starry; he didn't want to have to deal with hiding from humans and sneaking around our house or backyard. Starscream had almost fully healed and would need only another day or two of rest before being completely fine.

SO, life. Was. Good. *smiles*

_Ok. Here is the other reason I had mentioned for not updating sooner. ...Our little Ferret-sister, Panda, died on Thursday January 9, 2014. We had to lift up the couch to reach our other ferret, and then our cat snuck under. They were caught and gotten out,... but... nobody saw that Panda was still under there when the couch was placed down. There was no sound of fear or pain. We found her, minutes later, still warm and with her eyes open. So we hope it was quick. Instant. We all cried and held her. Our cat tried to play with her. We adopted two ferrets to keep him and our older ferret company. They constantly remind us of Panda._


	88. Chapter 88

_Hiiii! I can't believe it's been a month since I updated! I am sooo sorry! (Are you getting as sick of these apologies as I am?) Wow there are so many reviews now!_

_To Kitcat from the sky: Thank you! ...Yeah, it is sad...999999 *sad smile* I completely agree- pets ARE family (It's really great to hear it from someone else besides me-self and my family)._

_To optoclaw: Thank you very much for the sympathy. Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry! I hope it was instant and painless too. A permit for driving? I'm too scared to ever try driving... unless at some random time in the future I'm in a vehicle alone and the driver falls unconscious or something. (I actually had a dream like that once, and in it I solved my I-might-crash-into-something problem by driving in circles.) Ummmm... did you mean 'Areevaderchy'? I have no idea if I'm spelling that correctly, probably not. And for the rest of your farewell, sorry, I can't tell what you're saying!_

_To Cutie Kyuubi: Thank you very much for your sympathy. Allergic to animal fur, or ferrets specifically? 'Cause ferrets are actually hypo-allergenic! Thanks again._

_To Willowtuft: Thank you very much; glad you liked it! Thank you for the sympathy, and thanks for reviewing!_

_To Brenna Mae: Hahaha, really? It's awesome to hear from another Animorphs fan! And thanks for reviewing! (I say this to all who first review, hehe.)_

_To Firon-of-Cybertron: Hmm**mmMMMmm**mm, "**almost** as insane"...? *evil grin* I smell a challenge... :) (Well actually I don't, I have a lousy sense of smell, but that's beside and below and to the north-**WEST** of the point! *laughs insanely* Am I overdoing it? To the East-south of the point!) Hm, that is a good idea. Haha, that sounds like it could be fun... Well, I'll see what I can do, and thanks for the suggestion (and for reviewing)!_

_Thank you all for your reviews- you're awesome!_

ShortCircuit and I flew ahead with the front two corners of the blanket tied around my ankles. I'd had to tear a thin strip from both slits on the back of my shirt to tie those.

It was better than cutting off and ruining the string from my sweatpants, and I told myself that it let our wings move around better.

Freefel and Blindside flew behind us and a bit lower, with Freefel holding onto the back two corners of the blanket. In the middle of the huge cloth were the Mini-Ferals, swaying a little on the loose fabric.

Once we got home, Freefel gratefully landed on and clung to the roof, and crawled in through the window first. I handed her the Ferals, or they jumped onto her hand, and she got them safely inside the house.

The Ferals excitedly raced up to the room where the other Mini-TFs were, to regale them with their epic tales of being outside and who-knows-what-else. Extremely tired, Freefel and I flopped into bed (after Blindside unhooked his jet-pack-mode's harness-straps from around her shoulders).

The next day was Wednesday.

We couldn't practice our flying that night because our family goes to our religious meetings on Wednesdays. ShortCircuit had been coming along since the week I found her skulking around our neighborhood, and she found the meetings really interesting.

This time unfortunately, I felt ill, so my Dad took me (and ShortCircuit) home early. After much time of laying in bed, quite bored, I heard Freefel and our Mom coming home.

"ShortCircuit, hide!" I whispered. She was sitting by the lamp next to the bed, flicking through my Bible (since I'm kinda slow flipping to the scriptures and ShortCircuit doesn't like missing anything.)

She grabbed a pad of sticky-notes and stuck it in between the pages, then darted under Freefel's bed, which has less clutter under it. Why? Because Freefel is not a pack-rat and I am.

Freefel and I were too tired for flight-practice ,and I still had a headache. So, our parents went to bed and Freefel and I said 'goodnight' to the 'Cons.

Except for Static, but we figured that she was hiding someplace and would be fine.

Freefel was asleep and I was drifting off, when something poked my head. "Mnuh," I muttered, flopping my hand around to make it go away. Maybe it was one of those things where you're half-asleep and sort-of-dreaming and you think it's real, or something...

The unknown poking object poked my head again and I looked up to glare blearily at... Static.

"What." I stated, letting my head flop back down face-first onto one edge of the pillow. Well, my short blunt statement was quite the opposite of Static's reply.

"*Triumphant/SmugCybertronianLaughter* YouSaidICouldn'tComeToVisitStarscreamSirWithYouBecauseIDidn'tHaveAVehicleModeForThisPlanet _Well!_*MoreCybertronnianLaughter*NowIDo! *moreCybertronianLaughter*ICanGoAnyplaceIWantToWheneverIWantOhWait No, NotAnyplaceActually'CauseABig'ConCouldDetectMyEnergySignatureAndCouldTryToCatchMeOrHurtMeOhWellMaybeWeCanGetMoreEnergy-Signature-Blocking-Invention-thingsFromTheAutobotsThey'reSurprisinglyNice AreWeGoingToVisitThemAgainSoon,WhenCanWeDoThat? OhIAlmostForgotToTellYouAll LookAtMyNewAltModeIt'sSupposedlyReallyFastAndItWentReallyFastWhenIScannedIt TheActionOfScanningItWithoutLettingTheHumanSeeMeWasReallyHard!"

...What?

(By the way, Static laughing sounds like high-pitched chittering or trilling. Sort of like a high-pitched kookaburra bird, or someone laughing really fast and high-pitched and not exhaling.)

My brain had just processed the word 'things,' when there were metallic clicking and sliding noises, and the blurry outline of Static's bright-yellow shape changed. I squinted, then shook my head, "Hold on, I'm gonna try t' find a flashlight or something."

No flashlights, I discovered with a long yawn, and with Static waiting- and speaking- impatiently for me to see and tell her my opinion about her awesomeness. Finally I woke Freefel up to help me look-much to her annoyance, but then I changed my mind and settled on turning on a Nintendo DS and using the glowing screen as a flashlight.

We poor, non-glowing-eyed humans squinted, and managed to not get blinded by the bright light shining off Static's gleaming yellow armor. Now, though, instead of a humanoid metal person, we saw a small, sleek motor-scooter!

"Whoa!" I whispered excitedly, "That is _so cool_, Static!"

It was the thin kind that looks like a motorcycle, with the mirrors sticking up almost like thin and floppy bunny-rabbit ears. It had a huge space and a thin, flat floor between the seat and handlebar-, lights- and wheel-thing.

I've since looked up motor-scooter pictures upon the internet to figure out what kind it was, and the closest thing I can find to it is one called a 'China motor scooter.'

Static was very pleased with her new alt-form, whatever it actually was. Her neon-yellow coloration was so bright in the darkness that my eyes stung a little. But it looked cool.

"That's really good," Freefel complimented, nodding and blinking a lot.

"And I think you're right," I added, "Your alt-mode _is_ really fast." Then I realized something. "Hey," I stated, "Your alt-mode is fast."

Frefel sneered slightly, "I think we've established that." She's not very cheerful when she's tired.

"Yer' getting to be a miffy as Starry," I told my little sister, pouting, "Now, as I was saying. Static, you're really fast! You could get to that spot where Starscream and Tarnish are!"

"WhyDoYouWantMeToGoThere? ItIsn'tFunAndI'veBeenNearThereAnywaySoItWon'tBeExciting AndIWantToExplore!" the perky Defecon replied, transforming back to her bipedal-mode.

"You can go and bring Tarnish back here, so no nearby big-'Cons can sense his energy-signature," I explained, pleased with the mini-plan I'd come up with.

I fiddled with the DS so the screen wouldn't turn off (didn't need to do that to keep it on, but I'd forgotten) and saw Blindside's head listing to one side. Before I could ask if he was ok, he straightened up, looking triumphant.

"There are no other large Decepticons near enough to sense his, or Starscream's energy-signature," Blinside announced happily.

He then added, "Though it _would_ be a good idea to bring them both here- where the Autobots' signal-dampener works. Or we could bring one to them, except that I don't have the necessary materials to fully duplicate the one we have. ...Yet."

"IDon'tReallyWantToGoThereToBringTarnishBackHere," Static told us, "HeAlreadyKnowsWhereThisPlaceIsAndThatIt'sSafeAndBesidesIfIDidGoToFetchHim HowWouldIFindMyWayBackWithNoEnergy-SignaturesToFollowOhWaitIGuessThatWouldMeanThatTarnishCan'tFindHisWayHereEither SoIAdmitThatYourIdeaMakesSenseButIStillDon'tWantToGo."

"You can describe where you are to us," Blindside suggested, "And we can guide you from there." "GoodIdeaButIStillWantToStayHere," Static replied

ShortCircuit crawled out from under Freefel's bed to whisper something to her friend. Though for ShortCircuit, since her voice is super-quiet, she had to speak loudly in Static's audio-receptor for it to be at the volume of a whisper.

Static's face brightened and her light green optics widened with a smile. "Ok!" she chirped happily, nodding and zipping over to the window. She then stopped and worriedly whispered something to ShortCircuit, who reassured her.

Static nodded, happy again, and zipped back to the window. I helped her remove the screen, and she darted out with and trill of thanks.

When Freefel and I woke up the next morning, the Defecons told us that Static had indeed brought Tarnish back to our house.

But the dark bronze Cybertronian had come only grudgingly, and refused to come inside. Instead, he'd stayed in the woods behind our back yard, where he could hide and watch. Watch _what_, I don't know.

At school, I asked ShortCircuit what it was that she'd told Static to finally convince her to retrieve Tarnish. Since ShortCircuit's wires were in my head, we could read one another's thoughts, so she couldn't really hide the answer from me.

She explained instead of trying to hide the info (which she told me she could've probably hidden if she wanted to, by pulling out the wires).

ShortCircuit had told Static that she (Static) could think of it as a test-drive, to see how fast she could go while carrying a passenger.

Static had worried that Frenzy might be jealous, so ShortCircuit had reassured her that no, he wouldn't, and that maybe later Static could give Frenzy- who didn't have a fast vehicle-mode- a ride, once she was better at driving.

"Mm," I replied, grinning a little. ShortCircuit's brother and Static were so cute!


	89. Chapter 89

**Hello again. And, as always, I am so very extremely sorry for not updating sooner (Oh my goodness it's been over 4 months I'm so sorry!). I've been lazy, distracted, and busy, and I'm reeeeally sorry.**

**To Cutie Kyuubi: Aww, poor you! *I throw huge amounts of sympathy in your direction with a sympathetic expression* Wow, that _is_ weird. (I used to be allergic to cats- until our crazy little kitten adopted us, clung to my legs with his claws, and I ate oatmeal cookies every time I petted him. Hahaha.) Aa, sorry, I didn't include that part... Well, actually, I can try to, later... Thanks fer' the reminder!**

**To Willowtuft: Yippee! Thank you very much! Anything specific about it, or any advice of how to improve it?**

**To Guest: *snorts* Hahahaha! Thank you, I needed that laugh, hahaha. I never thought my 'pine trees' mistake could end up so funny...**

**To EHSparkwoman: Heh heh, yup! Aaah, no worries, I've hardly been on FanFiction at _all_ recently. Writing stories and stuff on here is sorta like a job, but I think I'm failing mine...**

**To Guest: _RRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrr_, that is completely unfair of them! We're not defrauding anyone or stealing or even getting _any_ money from our Fan-stuff! If anything, people should be _encouraging_ us all to make these! It's _creative_, it _promotes_ the movies/books/shows/etc, inspires AMAZING new _ideas_ for them... So many brilliant YouTube music-videos are already vanishing, when music companies should be _thanking_ them for introducing people to their songs! Pretty sure it's violating the '_Freedom of speech_' Amendment, and probably another '_Freedom_' one or two... *continues grumbling***

**To Tora Kyuu: Ok, I know I need to update more. Hahaha, a crazy-but-wise baboon like Rafiki? How does one be a baboon? It sounds like fun... (I see you changed yer' username, by de vay. - random Germanish accent)**

**On to the chapteerrrr! (Oh, and about that '999999' thing, on the beginning of the last chapter: I have NO idea why that was typed, maybe one of our ferrets walked across the keyboard...)**

On Friday night, Freefel and I needed to blow off some steam. Our mom had had gotten a little... annoyed, about Freefel and I planning to watch another "Doctor Who" episode instead of going to bed. (Ok there was more to it than that, we'd kinda had a "DW"-watching-marathon, but never mind that.)

I think it was the episode with Martha and the purple-and-orange fish people called Hath... NO, crazy self, _back_ to the story! "The Doctor's Daughter"... Quiet! I must go smack myself with a rolled up newspaper and then get back on topic.

Ok, SO! Freefel and I needed, blah blah blah, so Static suggested going outside. It wasn't as if we had anything _else_ to do... Except maybe one of us hold up a pillow and have the other one punch and bite it, and then feel sorry for the pillow.

But anyway, we went outside. The others ended up coming with us too, since they found it boring to just stay in the house and be quiet and hide. So we all went outside.

Freefel didn't like the cold air very much though, and was going to go back inside. ...So I put my freezing cold bare foot on her warm back.

Roughly one second later, I was fleeing for my life, or at least my health, and Freefel was promising revenge. Ahh it was glorious!

I got a bit nervous when it looked like she was about to catch me, so I leaped forward, extending our wings... Except that I'd forgotten: ShortCircuit was not attached to my spine right then. She was sitting over near a tree with Blindside.

For a fraction of a second I saw her twitch as she heard/felt my thought, and then I fell on the ground. Freefell was going _way_ too fast to stop running, though she did try to jump over me.

It didn't work, and she ran over me, tripped, and flopped onto the ground too, making a mufled yelp. I uncurled and flopped onto my back, which I knew wasn't such a good idea, because that's where I'd been recently stepped and stumbled upon.

"... _Oowwww_," I stated loudly, just 'cause it sounded funny. Didn't hurt too bad, but it _did_ hurt. The back of one leg had gotten scratched by Freefel's toenails, and her feet had landed pretty hard on my spine and the rest of my back. And one time on my head.

I'd heard Freefel yelp though, so I called "You ok?" She ignored my question and instead asked me the question back.

"Oh my goodness sis are you ok?!" Freefel demanded in one breath, sitting up and staring at me with worry. She crawled over, wincing.

"Nnn_nope!_" I stated happilly, smiling, "I'm completely insane, I got _punctures_ in my back and _metal_ around my ribs and _wire_-y bits in mah brain and a dent in my head but I still don't remember where it's from and my scraped knee is still recovering and I think I have a slightly broken nail or two. Are _you_ ok?"

She merely blinked blankly. "... Oh yeah, and I think I got stepped on a bit, but that's nothing," I finished, then grinned at Freefel and lovingly shoved her over with one hand on her shoulder.

"Ouch- _Heeyy_!" She complained, quickly getting back up in one swift rolling motion. I smiled. She smiled back, and then I suddenly reached out and flicked a big lock of her brown hair, "_Boiing_!"

Freefell jerked away, shaking her head and swatting away my hand- which I'd already pulled away. "Heh heh," I gloated, smirking. She made a mischeivious, fake growl, and pounced at me. We used t oplay like this when we were little, and it's really fun.

I scrambled away, whirling to my left so I could run straight away, but after just a few crawling lunges Freefel landed on my legs, curling her arms around my knees. "Bwa-ha-HA!" announced I dramatically, and started doing that alligator-death-roll thingy.

Except it didn't work and I just pulled my leg an inch out of my sister's tight grasp. "Hmm," I stated in pretendedly-stumped surprise, preparing to whirl around, sit up, and start tickling her neck and under-arms.

Instead of what I'd been preparing to do though, I saw something in front of me and looked up, yelped, and froze in surprise.

... "Hehh," I panted in **real** surprise, letting out a breath, "Hey Tarnish." The Cybertronian looked down at me with a sort of blank yet stern yet confused or disturbed expression. Like if you'd came home from school and seen a hairy miniaturized orange elephant sitting in your house and eating your sneakers with ketchup right in front of you.

"Admittedly," Tarnish told me, "I am not an expert on humans or their behavior, but there is something wrong with you." He paused and tilted his head slightly to look at Freefel, "... Aaannd you too, I believe."

I bit back a grin and asked, "You heard my listing of things that be wrong with me?" "No, I wasn't really paying attention," he answered.

NOW I grinned, "Then how do you know there is a something wrong with me?" And I deliberately crossed my eyes and bared my teeth in an insane smile of disturbingness.

I couldn't tell, because my eyes were crossed, but Freefel later told me that Tarnish looked like he was holding back a laugh (or maybe a snort of laughter). "...I just know," Tarnish assured, giving one of those squinty-eyed head-tilted nods and stepping away. He was so funny!

I grinned and sat up- Freefel had released me by now and had sat up too- and covered yet another grin with one hand.

A couple seconds later, Static came zoomed back to the front yard, where we all were. She'd been racing around the outside of the house for roughly a minute, and now staggered over and collapsed onto her stomach on the grass nearby.

"Tired," she panted. She'd run several laps around our house- which, to be honest, is pretty big-ish. Around several full laps in about a minute.

"Time," Static panted, closing her optics and then half-opening them, exhausted. "Ten full laps and an extra seventeen feet in one minute and two-and-one-third seconds," Blindside called.

"Ehh..." Static panted, getting up, moving to one side, and flopping onto her back, "Human measurements areAll weird. Why'dI ever AskYouTo use them...? What's theActual distanceAndTime?" Blindside told her in Cybertronian, and Static growled, "Aaaa'hk,I'mSlower! IKnewItShould'veBeenAtLeast _Eleven_Laps,ButTHisNewAlt-Mode MakesMeLess streamlined!"

The femme made another hissing noise of frustration: "HhhyyAA'hhkk." I crawled over and awkwardly tapped/patted her left shoulder, which was closer.

"There, there," I attempted to console, "Maybe you just need a bit more practice with it?" Static rolled her optics with a faint, sighing hiss, "AckYesButItTakeSo_Long_UntilPracticing MakesAnythingImprove!"

I couldn't argue with that, so I just nodded and laid on my back in the grass. It was cold and made my neck and back itchy, so I had to sit up and scratch after a few seconds. When I did, Freefel came over and poked my arm.

"What?" I asked, tilting my head and pulling a dead leaf out of my hair. "I wanna go back inside," Freefel told me quietly. I frowned, confused as to why she was whispering, "Umm... ok?"

She rolled her eyes with a scoff and whispered in my ear, "Blindside. If he thinks we're going back in, then he'll probably think that everybody has to go back in, as if it's an order or something."

"Ohhh," I mused, nodding my head slowly, "Ok. Sorry, thank you. I'll go tell him." "What- no," my sis hissed, grabbing for my leg as I stood up and walked away, "Seekjeeeii...!" I flopped my tongue out of my mouth and shook my head around at her tot show I wasn't going to listen, whispering "Blaaa-aaa-aaa." ...Yeah I know it's weird.

"Hey, um, do you wanna stay out here a bit longer?" I asked Blindside, coming over slowly to sit by him and ShortCircuit and trying to sound neutral, "Or would you like to come inside...?"

The blind Defecon tilted his head down and hunched his shoulders slightly, "I would like to remain here, outside, for a little bit longer right now." ShortCircuit and I beamed, happy that he was giving his opinion.

"Ok," I told him, making my voice gentle and wishing he could see my encouraging smile, "I like the outside too. It's nice." I got up slowly and went back to Freefel, who was now fiddling with a piece of crab-grass.

She looked up, "Well...?" I grinned and leaned down, "OUTsiiiiiide... is nice." "That doesn't answer my question," she stated, deadpan.

"We both need the fresh air," I told her, and poked her shoulder. She swatted my hand away. "Oh come onnnnn!" "NO, sis, I want to inside now," she told me, "Come on, I'm tired." "Well you'll sleep better if yer' _more _tired! So chase me!" I got up and bounced in place.

"... No." I frowned, and rapidly poked her shoulder again. Of course she swatted my hand away, so I grabbed hers and bit it. She looked about to retort, when I gasped at the sight of car-lights approaching around the street.

"Get down!" I hissed, "Hide!" Static zipped to our front garden and flattened down behind a leafless bush, while ShortCircuit and Blindside dropped quickly to the ground. They stayed as flat as possible, hiding behind the slight lump of mulch around the base of a maple tree.

I don't know where Tarnish had gone, but he was probably fine and concealed by a hologram of a bush or something.

The car drove past, headlights sweeping across the lawn for a moment. Laying flat in the scratchy grass with my head on its side, I shivered. Freefel was behind another tree-mulch-lump and stayed really still.

We waited. The car crunched on some gravel farther away, stopped, and the lights turned off. Nothing else happened. After a few seconds I slowly got up, keeping low to the ground just in case.

"_Now_ would be a good time to go back inside," a vaguely smug/amused voice told me, coming from my left. I barely heard anything after 'Now' though, beacause I'd made a whisper-shrieking gasp of surprise and flung myself to my right side, panting.

"Tar_nniiiiissh_," Freefel hissed reprovingly, though I could see that she was grinning widely, and her shoulders were shaking in silent laughter.

"Ok, ok," I muttered, slowly getting to my feet. I called SHortCircuit and asked if she could help me get Freefel and the others onto the roof. She agreed, and we helped Freefel up, then went over to get Blindside- who was sitting in the grass by the maple tree.

Suddenly we paused. I saw something... weird... over by the evergreen trees bordering our neighbors' yard. Something red and glowing.

"Umm..." I whispered, even quieter than our usual whispering for some reason. I reached down and lightly touched Blindside's shoulder, "I think I see something, over there." I forgot he was blind and gestured in the thing's direction with my head. Blindside nodded though, and ShortCircuit told me that he'd felt the direction of it from my movement.

"I'm gonna go check it out," I finished, after ShortCircuit telling me that she didn't want to get anywhere near the mystery-red-thing.

So she detached, and I climbed- badly- up the maple tree to look. I froze. There were EIGHT red things- hidden in the scraggly, lowest branches near the ground.

The glowing things were clumped together in one little spot. They were golf-ball-sized or bigger and sort of oval-shaped, tilting down toward one another in pairs, almost like...

Almost like..._ eyes_. At that point I stopped breathing entirely, and saw the glowing red eye-things all widen until they were perfect circles. Eight glowing red eye things, eight like a spider oh my goodness it must've been _huge_! Then they all blinked closed and reappeared again. EYES!

I squeaked out "Help!" and then slowly crept down the tree. I'd wanted to scramble down like mad and race to the front door, but A: it was dark and I was lousy at climbing, and B: the door was locked anyway and I'd wake up my parents.

Oh, _and_ I worried that any sudden moves could make the terrifying eight-eye monster thingy attack. So I got ShortCircuit to reattach, showed her what I remembered- the angle was different down there but she and the others could see them now too- and we hurried inside with everyone.

Static, after wanting to investigate, got a little nervous too, and tried to dart up onto the roof by herself. She was still a bit tired and wasn't able to. So ShortCircuit and I helped her up and then we scrambled inside, yanking the screen into place and locking the window tightly behind us.

Tarnish had been persuaded to come inside too, and stood in the middle of the floor, looking bored. He came up to look out the window at the creepy red eye-things, blinked, shrugged, and went upstairs to talk with the Mini-TFs.

ShortCircuit and I stayed at the window a bit longer, nervous. ShortCircuit mentioned that maybe the things were optics, and then we both shuddered.

Neither of us knew of any Cybertronians with eight creepy red optics who could hide under a tree. And noone, not even Blindside, had sensed any energy-signatures approaching, even from beyond the signature-sheild-thingy's boundaries.

So what were they? I shivered again and closed the window shades.

**Again, I'm extremely sorry for not updating earlier! In the time since my last update: the rest of our fish- except for one- have died of illness or old age, our three adorable-but-evil ferrets continued to poop everywhere, my family attended the International Convention, aaand... _I graduated from school!_ _FRREEEEEEEEEDOOOM!_**


	90. Chapter 90

_Again I'm extremely sorry for not updating sooner- 4 months has it been?! It's annoying worrying about updating, and I've been having too much fun with non-FanFiction stories and an old Japanese movie called 'Chirin No Suzu'/ 'Ringing Bell.' It's exciting, kinda depressing/dark, and all the characters are animals, so of course I like it. But back to apologizing and making excuses. Sorrrryyy! I don't know when I'll update next, but it'll probably take a while. Here's a long chapter for you all to enjoy!_

_To Cutie Kyuubi: Hahaha, actually not, but good suggestion. (I hate 'er too.)_

_To EHSparkwoman: Yes, I love it! I'm a Whovian through and through. Thank you very much!_

_To xVentressx: No, I don't have anything to do with such things. But thank you for the joke. *gives a Band-Aid for your head* Haha, thanks for the compliment, and thanks for reviewing!_

_To soundwave: Thank you very much! I'm really glad you like it. Hmmmm, good idea. I suppose I DO need to consider what their names are actually going to be. It's hard to keep it simple and good so they like the names and so I can remember though. Thanks for the suggestion!_

_To Archer of the Eclipse (formerly Tora Kyuu): Sorry, the username-changing gets confusing, but yes it's great to hear (or read?) from you! Awesome! Wrench-throwing action is always welcome and sought-after, but difficult to find a spot for since Ratchet rarely visits us. But I'll try, and thank you!_

_To T'Reilani: SO MANY REVIEWS! (I should've updated earlier.) 1 Yeah, ferrets are cute and crazy, but really clever and evil. Haha, mini-TFs are very sneaky... 2 Hehe, I'm always glad to hear I've made a reader laugh. 3 Thank yooouu! Wasn't sure if anyone knew it! 4 Yeah, poor little guy; he **still **won't tell us his backstory! Haha, that'd be so funny! 5 The silly prankster never learns. (It's fun to watch though.) 6 Maybe some design flaw- don't tell 'im I said that! 7 Yeah, is sad. 8 Huh, good idea. I think it's pretty cool. 9 Heh heh, thanks! People don't expect a human to bite. *evil grin* Why name a cat Jazz? 'Cause he's AWESOME! 10 YAAYY! 11 Yeah, it can be fun. 12 My sister appreciates yer' sympathy. 13 Haha, I forgot when she and I made that up. Yep. 14 Indeed, their crazy pranking is lots of fun. I'm so glad you like it that much, thanks! 15 Hehe; thank you I do. 16 That we are. And insane. 17 Agreed. Or scaring someone when they're asleep! 18 *jaw drops* OH. My. Word. Thank you so much for all that reading and reviewing! It's amazing you read all this in a night. I offer you a giant bar of chocolate and a cup of coffee. Thank SO MUCH!_

_To Hunting for Stars (Autobot SoShi)_:_ Thank you very muchly. I'm so glad ya like it, though I know I make many a mistake. Thanks! Yeah, maybe. One of our ferrets scared a small dog as she (ferret) sniffed him (dog)!_

_ONNN with ze CHAPTERRR!_

The next morning, Saturday, after a night of not-much-sleeping due to fear-of-creepy-red-eyes, I was awoken at around 5:00 AM by Tarnish dropping a window-screen on me. I forget when it was that such things stopped surprising me.

"What..." I mumbled tiredly, feeling the light, flat screen on top of the covers. Then I remembered the mystery-eyes-of-doom and woke right up: "Wha's going on? Danger? 'Bots? 'Cons? Are you discovered?"

Though I was panicking a little, I'd automatically spoken in a whisper, so as not to wake up our parents. Tarnish gave me a withering look- an impressive feat, considering I could only see his optics.

"I detect no immediate danger," he stated shortly, "I'll be in the woods." And with that he scrambled out the window and onto the lower roof, leaving me to struggle out of bed and follow him onto the window-sill.

"Wait!" I whispered, "What about the eight-eyed thingy?" He glared at me, his orangey-yellow optics narrowed, and replied a bit sarcastically, "Then if the supposed 'monster 'attacks, I will do my best to alert you all before I die. Does that make you feel better?"

"No," I stated, with a deadpan/pouting expression, "I does NOT make me feel better if you end up being dead." "**Everything** '_ends_ up' being dead," the Defecon informed me, "That's why it is called an 'end.'"

"Very morbid," I admitted with a touch of admiration and a nod of my head, as if I'd said 'very impressive' to a worthy opponent, "But you could get killed instantly, with no time to warn anyone."

"... Hmm," he admitted after a long pause, "Yes, and since energy-signatures cannot be sensed here, no one would know if I had died. Ah well."

I made an aggrieved expression at him and he rolled his optics, explaining, "It might not even be something alive. maybe it was some of those absurd miniature lightbulbs that you humans put everywhere for your silly 'hoh-lid-ayz.'"

"Our family doesn't," I told him, "And it's February; there are no hol- no wait, there's that heart one with cards. Never mind."

He gave a sort of shrug and moved away, down the roof. "Wait!" I whisper-hissed, "It could still be dangerous!" He didn't listen.

I scrambled forward and snagged his shoulder with one hand, hiss-whispering, "You come back here!" I wasn't going to let the not-so-little psycho get himself killed!

Tarnish yanked his metal arm out of my grasp so fast that it hurt my fingers and broke part of a nail. OW! Tarnish glared at me, optics flaring like the coals of a fire.

I didn't move, well, not much, just pulled my head back a little. The Defecon narrowed his optics slight, then made a quiet scoffing noise, the kind you might make through your nose when you smirk evilly.

"If you're so worried," he told me, the smirk audible in his voice and visible in his optics, "Then tell ShortCircuit I'll contact you through her every five minutes. If I don't, I'm dead. Or trying to scare you."

He turned away. "Wait!" I whispered, and Tarnish turned his head with exaggerated patience.

"What," he stated flatly. I blinked, asked, "Why five?"

Tarnish smirked, but with more humor this time, "Because you humans have a thing about fives. It's weird." And with that, he hopped off the roof. Ooookay!

I watched the front yard, but didn't see him, so I guessed he'd gone around to the back. Then, being too tired to follow him- and preferring my warm covers to the freezing outside- I went back to bed. Well I crawled under the blankets, and then leaned my head over the side and poked ShortCircuit with one finger.

She was under the bed, sleeping. She woke up a little grouchily, seeing as her optics snapped open with a glare. I told her, in a whisper, that Tarnish had gone outside and I warned that he might call her on the comlink.

She slithered out from under the bed, crawled over to where I was perched near my pillow, and shouted in my ear (remember, her voice is extremely quiet), "I is very tired and have not much sleep because the 'bed' does make noises when you is moving. I does need more rest."

I ducked my head in apology, "Sorry, I didn't know. I'll try to move less." ShortCircuit shrugged and shook her head, and then burrowed under the still-warm covers next to me and curled up to sleep.

I, meanwhile, was a little... flabbergasted. It's a fun word, flabbergasted. Flab. Flab-burrrrrrrrr- gas-tid. OK, moving on, anyway, I poked ShortCircuit and asked, "What about me? I can't sleep next to you; it'd be weird." It wasn't weird being asleep when she'd been on my back though, which was a weird fact.

Anyway, back to the story. ShortCircuit muttered something and flopped one hand in the air at me. I leaned closer and she pushed my face away, smushing my nose.

After a moment, she poked her head out of the covers and told me that she'd asked Tarnish not to do the every-five-minutes-alerts. And to please leave her out of whatever weirdness he or I were causing because she was already quite tired and nervous about the eight-eye/optic-thing.

And she went back to sleep. Or, recharge. Me, I love cold weather, but I still needed my own sleep, and doing so was a little difficult when it was so cold and I couldn't go under the covers. Plus I was worried about Tarnish.

After staring out the various windows and even sneaking out onto the roof, for about half an hour, and seeing glimpses of him every now and then, I figured he was safe enough. So I found the super-soft-blanket I'd tried to give to Starry, and curled up in it on the lower half of my bed.

It was only when I woke up about two hours later that I realized I should've done something to make sure our parents wouldn't see ShortCircuit if they came into our room. But, they hadn't come in, so thankfully my lousy half-asleep judgment hadn't caused any disasters. Hooray!

I noticed another thing though: It was SNOWING! WHOO! (I'd put in more exclamation marks but FanFiction won't let me, haha.)

I was still tired, so I dozed off for a bit longer before I finally woke up completely and assumed that everyone else would want to do the same. I looked out and the snow and gave an ecstatic cheer! Wellll I was wrong about everyone wanting to get up.

Oh _Static_ woke up just fine. In fact she literally SPRANG out from under Freefel's bed, where she (Static, not Freefel) had been sleeping, to look out the windows. And she was _climbing_ out the window- in broad daylight!- by the time Blindside emerged from his sleeping on a pile of clothes in our closet.

He and I had to drag the hyper femme away from the window so she wouldn't start playing in the snow on the roof. I just hoped nobody would notice the oddly-shaped hand/servo-prints there...

Blindside managed to calm her down slightly, and by that time ShortCircuit and Freefel were awake and grouchy and being woken up. A sleep-deprived Freefel can be a dangerous Freefel, and I'm pretty sure the same goes for ShortCircuit. SO we left them alone for a little longer.

I couldn't wait to go exploring. Winter's the best time for it, since you can retrace your foot-prints and don't have to worry so much about ticks. I worried our parents might see the Defecons though, especially Static's neon yellow coloring. But there were still so many wonderful trees and so much snow that it'd be hard to see us.

I finally managed to drag Freefel out of bed- not literally drag, but more of a convince-her-a lot-and-slightly-drag... never mind. The point is I got her up and out of bed. We were about to go outside with the Defecons... when our parents called us for breakfast.

So after a hastily-devoured breakfast and some rushed chores, we snuck our two friends to the back door, Freefel and I got into our snow-clothes, and out we went! OHH the snow was GLORIOUS! As much as I'm obsessed with internet, books, movies, and writing, I'm still a bit of a nature-freak, and proud of it.

We told them where they could hide in some pine-trees on the way to the woods (yes, PINE trees, not PIE trees, haha), so they wouldn't be seen. I wanted to see how good my sneaking was, so I went with them, and Freefel just took the direct route through the open back yard.

ShortCircuit had stayed behind, still being tired. Also I think she was a bit worried that we'd find Barricade in that pine-tree-clearing again. We didn't. But we did find a dead grackle- a small, beautiful black bird with yellow eyes and iridescent feathers that gleam greenish and purple.

Static, in an unusual display of restraint, asked if it ok to touch it, because it was soft. We told her no, but she could have some of our feather collection later if she wanted.

We solemnly made a grave for it- difficult when the ground's frozen and you have only boot-heels and sticks to dig with. The Defecons helped out _a lot_ with that, since their fingers, especially Static's long claws, made digging much easier.

When we all left for a bit to find stuff to put on the grave, and then came back, we found that the shallow-ish hole was deeper! I wondered if maybe it'd been a stray dog or cat who'd done that, but there were no paw-prints and a hungry predator would've eaten the dead bird, not helped us dig a hole for it.

We carefully pushed the grackle into the hole using a few large sticks. It was slightly stiff, and its head dangled a bit loosely. I wondered to myself if it'd gotten too old or chilly or tired, and fallen and broken its neck. Hoped it had been over quickly.

"Poor thing," I whispered, and helped the others push a bit of dirt over the grave. I sprinkled some fine dirt over, a habit of mine from when I bury our dead fish, and we just kinda looked down at it for a moment.

Well, Blindside tilted his head down at it. And he touched the dirt very lightly, which was sort of his way of looking. We saw Tarnish standing a little ways off, watching us quietly. He left, and the mood was somber for a while.

Until I didn't duck in time and my face ran into a snow-covered pine tree branch, causing me to get snow all over myself and in my snow-suit. YIKES that was cold!

So I had to throw a blob of snow at Freefel when she laughed. My aim was terrible, as usual. Static laughed and I threw snow at her too , and we all got into a hilarious Snow Battle. I wished ShortCircuit had been there, on my back, so she could've given me a bit of warning when I got ambushed by snowballs behind me.

Blindside turned out to be an excellent thrower of snow, except when there were too many trees between him and his target. Other than that his aim was flawless! So it was because of that, and Static's speediness, that the Defecons won.

Oh, and possibly because of Tarnish's random appearances- from behind holograms of trees and deer- with arm-loads of snow. But I'm not quite not sure whose side he was on, since he threw snow at everyone. I notice that the snowballs he aimed at Freefel and I, they usually had rocks in them though. *pouts and grumbles to self*

Anywho, we all finally headed back home, after an epic Snow Battle and some fantastic exploring in the snow-filled woods. We'd found a stream and several fallen trees whose roots formed shallow caves almost. The Defecons absolutely loved it! Well, Tarnish had already explored a lot of it, but still.

On the way back though, Freefel heard our mom calling. She and I raced back, asking the Defecons to meet us afterward at the biggest pine-tree in the clearing. It was coated in snow, so it made a great hiding spot.

Freefel and I arrived in our back yard, panting and tired. I was sweaty and overheating from all the exercise, so I took off my coat, which our mom demanded I put back on. Blah. I did, but loosely, and didn't zip it up.

She demanded I zip it at least two-thirds. Blah. She just doesn't have the cold-weather thing that Freefel and I have, I guess. Anywho again, she told us not to leave our 'toys' out in the snow where they could get stepped on.

WHAT? For a fraction of a second I thought she meant the Defecons for some reason, but then she pointed on the ground. There in the snow, by the large bush and garbage bin, were several Mini-TFs!

"What?!" I exclaimed. Freefel and I both gaped at them. Our mom repeated what she'd said, very sternly because she'd thought I was being indignant and rude to her.

"W-We had no idea!" Freefel defended me. "Yeah, we're sorry," I added. I looked down with an apologetic/ashamed expression, but scowled at the Minis when my face was tilted enough that our mom couldn't see it.

She shook her head and rolled her eyes as she left, "Make sure it doesn't happen again in the future." 'Why, are we going to go time-traveling?' I thought grouchily. Freefel and I picked up the Minis as our mom went inside the house. Once she was out of sight they moved.

"Come on, let go!" Sunstreaker complained, pushing my gloved fingers apart and wriggling free. I shake my head and grab him up again, "No. And why are you out here?"

There were Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, of course. Also Choppy, Barricade and Roadbuster, all the Ravages, several of our mini-BeastWars-TFs, and the two Scrapticons (Scrappy and Scrapt). Those two were making two snow-replicas of themselves.

"Welllllll..." Sunny begins, and too late I see the smirk on his face, and that he's looking up. I whip my head around just in time to have a mini avalanche of snow land on my face. I splutter and swipe at the snow, and from Freefel's yelp of shock, I can tell she's just had the same thing happen to her.

The TFs laugh, and I think vengeful thoughts, like locking them in Zorra's cage for a day.

"YOU!" I shout, "Sneaky little things!" I wiped the snow off my face and eyes and glare up at 'BeastWars' Silverbolt and the mini-Starscream Feral, who are perched at the edge of the roof. All around them the snow is gone, from their pushing it off onto us.

Freefel shivers and flings snow off of herself, also glaring a little, and yells at the Feral, "I thought you told Seekjei you and the others hated the cold!" "I don't!" he cackled gleefully.

"Urrrrg!" I growled, "You could've just _asked_ to come outside! And NOT DUMPED SNOW ON US!" "Where would be the fun in that?" Sideswipe asked, grinning.

Freefel let out an irritated sigh, "Look, we're more than willing to let you our of the house, ok? But you can't just sneak out like this! You see how we got in trouble?"

"Ahh, you might want to worry more about the trouble some of the others are getting in," Silverbolt mentioned sheepishly. I looked up so fast my head hit the back of my neck, "Why?! What're they doing?"

Scrappy or Scrapt, I forget which one, pointed to the side of our house, "They're going through the highest-up window and jumping to the tree."

"I'll get Static and Blindside," Freefel told me. I nodded and ran toward the window and tree, calling to her, "Thank you, back-up is appreciated!"

I'd thought Saturdays were supposed to be relaxing. Crazy Minis and Ferals, grouchy and confusing Defecons, mysterious red eyes... Oh yeah, and our family was planning to go skiing the next day.

_Ok, bit of past-tense-turning-into-present-tense there, sorry. Felt good to write that way though._


	91. Chapter 91

_Okaaaayyyyy, I know I'm getting to be- well ok, I **am**- one of those annoying authors who hardly EVER updates, and always apologizes for it but never changes. I regret this. It's like... getting OLD or something! Anyway, here's the customary apology: I'm ever so very very VERRYYYYY sorry! I know i should've updated way sooner, especially since I don't have the evils of school slowing me down anymore. Thank you all for your patience, you're all amazing people!_

_...Also...today is January 9th. One year after Panda died. So, I give this chapter in tribute of her. It snowed today, which was fitting and nice._

_To Archer of the Eclipse: Thank you ever so much! Ummm, how so? Dod you mean you as a random cameo appearence, or something like that? I'll see what I can do, and thanks again!_

_To xVentressx: I know, and I'm **really** sorry about that. Eh, really? Thank you so very very much. :) I'll keep writing, but I don't know how often- I still need to stop myself from wasting so much time. Nah, that's ok, FanFiction steals the words like trolls steal socks. ;)_

_To EHSparkwoman: Yep, they're mischeivious little people. Heh heh, yeah, though I don't think Tarnish plays very much. He seems to enjoy 'combat'-like games, like snowball fights or hide-and-go-seek-tag. T'is a good pun._

_Thank you all! ON! WITH! THE! CHAPTERRRRR!_

Well, after a great many of scratches from partially climbing the tree, I managed to get the Minis to put a temporary stop to their suicidal leapings into it. Apparently they'd thought it was great fun, jumping out the highest window of the tallest tower/room.

I, on the other hand, along with Freefel, did not think it was so funny. I'd taken off my gloves to get a beter grip on the tree (also 'cause tree-bark getting embedded in one's gloves is very uncomfortable), so my hands were freezing and a little scraped. I'd also gotten stuck like a cat in the lowest branch, which is over seven feet off the ground.

(Don't judge. I don't like heights and only feel **mostly** comfortable when I'm flying with ShortCircuit. At least _then_ I have a safe way of getting back to the ground.)

Tarnish, for once, was almost no help at all in scolding the Minis. If anything, he was pleased! He told them somehting along hte lines of 'Good for you, keep thinking of ways to train, be brave, blah blah blah.' So I threw an exasperated look and some more snow at him.

I'd expected the guy the chase me, so I started skittering away. He just blinked at me very dead-panly, unimpressed, and headed inside. That was almost more frustrating than the reckless Minis.

Everyone else came back inside, except for a couple determined Mini-TFs who promised to come back inside after an hour. I informed them that if they didn't, I'd keep them in a small box for an hour. Irritatingly, this threat didn't seem ot bother them all that much, but they agreed anyway and I let them stay outside.

It'd been a long day, and Freefel and I took turns staying in the bathroom so our parents wouldn't walk in and see the Defecons drying themselves off in there. Apparently they feel just as uncomfortable with melting snow in their armor as we humans feel in soggy cloathing.

Our dad almost spotted them, since he was waiting outside the door to use the bathroom as soon as Freefel supposedly finished using it. My attempts at a distraction (mostly involving questions about science fiction novels) didn't lure him away, and I held my breath as Freefel called that she was done and opened the door.

I let out the huge breath of air and let my shoulders go limp when I couldn't see a single sign of any Defecons. The shower curtain was closed, so they were probably hiding in there. As our dad went through the doorway, I jumped at the sight of Static crawling out of the room, upsidedown, on the ceiling just above his head.

That was WAY too close! I considered telling Static to be more careful, but realized that she'd probably done her very best to get out the only way she could. So I suppose some congratulations were in order. I was a little too tired and still chilly at the moment, so I filed the decision away for later. I just hoped our Dad wouldn't pull aside the shower curtain while he was in there.

A few minutes later, which felt like hours, our Dad came out. I'd been anxiously waiting outside the doorway, but when I heard the faucet being used I darted away and hid in our room. I accidentally surprised Freefel, who was putting on fresh, dry clothes.

Understandably she was startled and indignant, so I instantly whirled around and covered my eyes against a wall. Modesty is **very** _important_.

As soon as I heard our Dad's footsteps heading away, I squeezed myself out of our room, rushed to the bathroom, and closed the door. "Guys?" I whispered, "It's safe to come out. It's me, Seekjei."

"Thank you!" Blindside's voice whispered from the cabinets below the sink. I hurriedly opened the cabinet-doors and he slowly, carefully crawled out.

"Finally," Tarnish stated, stepping out from the bathtub. "I've been curled up disguised as a pile of laundry in that 'bath tub' for the past four minutes, and it smells awful in here. Though not as bad as when you use this room," he added with a look that was both smirk-y and disgusted.

Understandably I got mad at him.

I simultaeneously thought 'EW!' and 'Rude!' So I shrieked some bizaarre, garbled combination of the two and hurled a wadded-up towel at him. Apparently my aim had improved, because it smacked him right in the face.

He slowly reached up and pulled it off, looking slightly annoyed.

"Seekjei?" our Mom called, sounding alarmed because of my shriek, "Are you ok?" "Ye-es!" I called back, trying to sound casual. "What was that scream?" she insited worriedly.

"Nothii-iing~!" I called, looking around and then deliberately placed one foot on the wet floor and slid forward, "I slipped. But I'm fine!" Technically, that was true.

"Ok," our Mom called back, apparently satisfied. I sighed in relief and turned to glare at Tarnish.

"I do not spy on you humans in this smelly room," he informed me before i could ask, "but occasionally one of you enter it while I am using it, so I hide myself." "What do you use it for?" I asked, confused/suspicious but a little less horrified.

He didn't answer, only smirked wryly and tossed the towel into my hands, "I **let** you hit me, by the way. Try again." I wasn't sure whether to believe him or not, and tossed it lightly at him.

In the time it took to blink, he'd easily snatched it out of the air and thrown it back. I flinched and stumbled back, bumping my shoulder on the door. "Seekjeeii, you alriiight?" our Dad called. "I'm fiiiine!" I shouted back.

I threw the towel at Tarnish harder, but he caught it even quicker and calmly tossed it back again. I sighed and held up my hands in defeat, shaking my head.

"Alright, I surrender. You're the king of... towel... catching, or whatever. Truce?" I asked, holding out a hand. Tarnish looked down at my hand like it was a tentacle.

He reluctantly reached out, held one fingernail gingerly between his claw-tips for a second, and imediatly let go, stating, "Yes." Well it was better than a 'no' or a towel in the face.

Next to me, still partially crouching, Blindside inquired, "Is it safe to leave?" "Ah, yeah, sorry," I told him, shaking out the wrinkled towel and hanging it up on a hook, "Go ahead, the coast is clear."

I opened the door a little for him. He said thanks, slipping carefully past me and out the door. Tarnish watched him leave, then activated a hologram. I jumped when I recognized it as myself. The hologram's 'eyes' pointed at me and a smirk crossed its 'face.'

It didn't look entirely correct, and the whole effect was a little disturbing. Tarnish was apparently pleased with this, for he made it smirk again, and then he left the room.

ShortCircuit, I found, had apparently known of the Minis' crazy window-tree jumping stunt earlier but ignored it. Understandably I was a little miffed that she hadn't stopped them. She told me they'd promised to be careful, so she hadn't bothered.

Also, I think, she was still a bit scared of the mysterious red eye-thingies we'd seen. I decided not to push her any further.

The next day our family left to go skiing someplace really far away. Vague, I know. Don't bother asking me where, 'cause I forget the name.

Anyway, the Defecons and Minis would have free reign of the house while we were gone, which I'm sure pleased them immensely. I begged ShortCircuit and Blindside, the sanest of the bunch, to at least _try_ to keep order. Hopefully we wouldn't return to a disaster zone.

It tooka couple hours to get to the ski place, and then an incredibly long, boring amount of time to get everything sorted out and ready. The waiting and boredom were almost as exhausting as actual skiing.

The first time I'd ever skied in my entire life, I ended up zipping down the slope, utterly terrified and muttering something along htelines of: "Please don't let me die, please don't let me die."

I was worried if I tried to slow down I'd fall over and break several of my limbs. Or somehow get impaled by the ski-poles or run into someone.

Somehow I managed to not die, and afterwards rather enjoyed it. For the record, I still do enjoy it, but it's also still rather terrifying and the closest thing I will ever come to riding a roller coaster. Even getting on the ski-lift can be a little scary.

Anywho, on my second or third slope, I spotted something weird. Coming off the lift was someone in a very familiar outfit. It looked exactly like my red coat and some snow-pants of mine, which I'd left at home.

The person noticed me staring, and I quickly skied away, nervous and embarassed. Maybeb I was being a bit too paranoid... Then I nearly fell over when someone over to my left called, "Hey! Seekjei!"

I glanced over as the skied a couple feet ahead of me. It was the mystery person with the familiar coat and snow-pants! The face, I didn't recognize... until it completely vanished, replaced with Tarnish's!

"WHA?!" I exclaimed, barely managing to keep my balance and nearly falling over again. Tarnish laughed at my reaction and snickered, "You humans have the strangest games!"

"Whh," I panted, trying not to get too distracted, "What- How'd you get here?" In answer he skiied a bit closer and held out his right arm, straight out in front of me. In his hand was a leaf.

A hologram flickered around it, appearing to be a twenty dollar bill, then a five, then a fifty. How he manages to put so much detail into his holograms I do not know.

"You can't use leaves!" I yelled at him, impressed with his cleverness but indignant that he'd cheated the... the... 'ski-people,' whatever they're called. "That's stealing!" I added.

"Worth it!" the Defecon cackled, "Watching humans fallling over and screaming is very entertaining!" And with that, he whooshed down the slope ahead of me.

I tried to catch up, but he vanished into the crowd. And then probably put another hologram around his- my!- coat and stuff so I wouldn't see him. I don't know what I would've done if I'd caught him, maybe dropped a snowball into his- my- sleeve or something.

I occasionally caught glimpses of him throughout the rest of the day, but usually from afar. I told Freefel about it when we managed to meet up amid the crowds and skiing and craziness.

She didn't worry too much about his being there, but wondered when and how he could've managed to get here. My best guess was that he'd stowed away in our minivan, but I wasn't sure where he could've hidden in it.

After a very long day of skiing, i was grateful to be on my way home. Still, I attempted to go looking for Tarnish, to make sure he wouldn't get left behind there.

Freefel looked too, and I mentioned to out parents that I'd seen someone whose coat looked like my old red one. Of course I didn't tell them who it was, but i was hoping that if they saw him they'd point him out to me. No such luck. Then again, I don't believe in luck anyway.

So, with extreme worry, I followed out parents back to the car. I hoped Tarnish might've finished skiing and might be waiting for us. Nope. No sign of him.

I didn't see him anywhere, though I checked in the truck, under the seats, and under the vehicle itself. (Actualy, 'herself,' since out family likes to give a gender and name to our possesions.)

I thought maybe I'd see some Cybertronian footprints, but either he'd been wearing boots or the footprints had gotten covered up. I wished I had ShortCircuit with me so we could call Tarnish on the commlink.

Exhausted and worried and sore, I flopped miserably onto the back seat.

What if Tarnish got stuck at the ski place and other Decepticons eventually found him?! He'd get hurt or captured, and it'd be all my fault too! Well maybe not all, but still.

Then my hand, lying floppily on the floor, felt soemthing fabric-y under the seat. I sat bolt upright and yanked the object out to look at. It was my red coat! And next to it were the snow-pants!

I spent most of the ride home alternatively being glum and hopeless, and being annoyed and hopeful, and being worried and anxious in general. Also, rather uncomfortable. Snow had soaked everything, so said-everything was chilly and damp.

As soon as we got home I wanted to just step out of the minivan and collapse face-down on the snow. But I couldn't do that, and instead trudged inside the house, took off my soaked coats, boots, etc., and lumbered clumsily upstairs.

"Is Tarnish here?" I asked immediately, looking around our room. Blindside and ShortCircuit weren't there. I panicked and was about to search the entire house when Blindside's voice called from our parents' bedroom.

I rushed in and saw him and ShortCircuit sitting on the bed and playing cards. What.

"Whaaaaat?" I asked, brain turned to mush from exhaustion and worry and surprise. How were they even playing cards when Blindside couldn't see? I saw several tiny holes, pin-pricks really, pinpricks in lines on the lower left side of all the cards.

I pointed at said-cards, stating, "_That_ is clever. Now whare's Tarnish?! And, um, where's Static too?" "Static's outside in your backyard rounding up the little ones, the 'Minis,' I think you call them," Blindisde told me, as ShortCircuit zipped over and climbed onto my back.

"Should I comm Tarnish while ShortCircuit explains what happened?" Blindside asked, "Yes please!" I told him, "I saw him at the ski place and I think he got back to the car but I don't know if he managed to get back or not!" I pulled in a deep breath, trying to re-inflate my lungs after that panicky sentence.

"Him is much probably fine," ShortCircuit told me as all three of us went to hide in my-and-Freefel's room. I could sense assurance from her, and slight annoyance that our return home had interrupted their card game, which Blindside had been winning.

It was sweet that she was so happy for Blindside's sake, but I was still worried about Tarnish. Arrogant and annoying though he was, he was still... Well, whatever he was, he was kinda part of the team, and I didn't want him getting lost or hurt.

"Lost," ShortCircuit scoffed in amusement. Apparently Tarnish never got lost. ShortCircuit explained that Blindside- and she- had been working on duplicating hte Autobots' was part of the reason she'd stayed inside, the day before.

The pair of them, with some detail-work done by Static and supplies given by Tarnish, had created a short-range signal dampener. It was so that any one of them could take it with them, if neccessary, and still leave the main one at our house.

Come to think of it, having the main one there, hiding any passing energy-signatures, might make out house sort of like a mini Bermuda triangle. Cool! Then again, maybe not, because that could attract unwanted attention. But we'd worry about that later.

According to Blindside and ShortCircuit, Tarnish had taken the new signal-dampener for a sort of test-run when he secretly came with us to the ski place. I guess it was working, since Blindside couldn't sense Tarnish's signature. Tarnish had replied to his call though, and said he was returning to the house right now.

That was a gigantic relief, and I flopped slowly onto my bed with a grateful sigh. A tap from the window startled me, but it was only Static. She was back from the yard, on the roof with the Minis who'd been outside for the day.

We let her in and she asked, at her usual hyper-speed, how the new signal-dampener was doing, and how our family's skiing trip had gone. ShortCircuit and Blindside filled her in on the former, and I told her about the latter.

She sounded excited and was very interested in skiing, but said that it must get so boring to not be able to turn very quickly. I remembered how she preferred darting around quickly to simply moving in a very fast but boring straight line. She was like a chipmunk!

She also explained why Tarnish had taken some old snow-clothes. Keeping up the appearences of his holograms for a long time was hard, andthe more complex the harder it was. So he'd hidden easily in the actual clothing, thus only needing a hologram face.

Freefel came in, having helped out parents put away the ski stuff, and asked if we'd found Tarnish yet. Everyone explained, with a bit of overlapping, what was going on.

Static, who'd gone to rest and hide under a pile of old shoes in our closet, poked her head out, "WeDon'tReallyKnowExactlyWhereForSure BecauseOfTheSignalDampenerButHeDidSendAMessageThat He'dGottenAnEarthAltModeAndWouldMaybeComeBackHereWithIt."

"He got a new alt-mode?" I asked, looking at Blindside, "Why didn't you mention that part?" "He didn't tell me. I'm sorry," the blind Defecon replied timidly, hunching his shoulders slightly, "He only mentioned that he was coming back here, but I didn't ask how. My apologies."

"No, no, it's ok," I promised, worried I'd made him nervous again, "It's alright. I'm sorry if I sounded accusing." I didn't mention the fact thta ShortCircuit had yanked one of the wires in my back because she was angry I might've upset Blindside.

I rubbed the sore spot and sent her a mental glare. She gave a mental shrug in reply and a half-sincere apology. I shrugged back and wondered if I should stay awake until Tarnish came back.

Actually, I was pretty sure he'd told ONLY Static of his new alt-mode so she'd get really excited and bother us all with her hyperness. I decided that yes, I would stay up, or I would at least **try** to. Hopefully he wouldn't take too long.

ShortCircuit disconnected from my back and played some kind of Cybertronian game of cards with Blindside until they heard our parents approaching. The two hid under Freefel's bed when our parents came in to turn the lights out and say goodnight.

Blindside and ShortCircuit played cards for a while longer. I'd have thought ShortCircuit would need a flashlight in the dark, but apparently her glowing blue optics provided enough light. Eventually the two curled up and fell asleep under Freefel's bed together.

Tarnish didn't take _too_ long getting home, which I was grateful for. After a few more minutes, Static, the only other person still awake, informed me that he was outside and waiting to be let in. I opened thewindow and looked out, expecting to see him on the roof already.

He was at the back of that partof the house, blinking up at us with his bright amber optics. He explained briefly that he hadn't wanted to slip in all that snow and wake anyone else, or possibly damage the roof.

I crawled out, and Static held my arms as I hung my feet down for Tarnish to climb up. I tried not to wince as his talon-like claws nicked my ankle when he scrambled onto the roof.

Tarnish gave us both a brief nod as a thank-you, and then slithered through the window to sleep in a corner of our room near the door. Apparently he was a little tired as well.

And we wouldn't going to get to see his new alt-mode yet. Phooey.


End file.
